Return with Vengeance
by Bakura's Guardian Angel
Summary: After Bakura was defeated in the past, he was not destroyed. His trip to the Shadows brings him into a partnership with the demon Zorc. Ryou, now Host to two demons, must discover Bakura's plan and stop it before it destroys the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Author: **Bakura's Guardian Angel  
**Title: **Return With Vengeance  
**Rating: **K+  
**Summary: **Bakura_ never_ steps into a situation without a backup plan, and now he has a partner who is possibly even more dangerous than the thief himself!  
**Time Frame:** Post-Dawn of the Duel (More exact time will be revealed in story)  
**Disclaimer: **I am not a middle-aged man, and my name is not Kazuki Takahashi, therefore I must not have invented Yu-Gi-Oh!

**A/N:** (Well, Here we go again.)

Chapter One

Black and purple clouds billowed and swayed in the darkest corners of the Shadow Realm, though there was not a breath of wind. Everything was covered in an inky darkness that seemed to seep from the very ground and sky. The Shadows appeared to breath, like a great black ocean with waves of mist flowing back and forth endlessly in a timeless rhythm. There were no discernible features, just smudges and bulky masses; all blended together in meshed hues of black, purple, and grey. It was all a blurred mess, seemingly _made_ to confuse the eye.

Occasionally a dark form would slip through the never-ending mists, walking, or crawling along miserably. A shadow among shadows, lithe and shapeless. A spirit forever lost to wander the Shadow Realm's endless dark. More often then not, it would be gone before you could be sure you had actually seen it. Like a ghost of memory, right on the edge of remembering, but too fleeting to recall.

Every once in a while a cry would echo through the murky silence, professing the pure misery of any soul, mortal or not, unfortunate enough to find itself trapped here. Hundreds of them, souls upon souls, whispered to no one and nothing making a sound like a soft breeze that muffled the occasional moans. Throughout the ages, sorcerors and wizards or all cultures had used the Shadows as a method of punishment. It could be traced back, even to before the Egyptian dynasties, as the source of rumors of mythological demons and creatures sent to feed on human souls.

Suddenly an inhuman screech ripped through the thick, underwater-like quiet, breaking it into shards like broken glass. For a moment everything was thrown into focus like a static-y television set whose antenna had been moved just enough to see the picture. Wandering spirits could be seen fleeing quickly from something just beyond the boundary of visibility. Features became clear, protruding unnaturally. There was no perception of depth, and distances were impossible to measure. It was not dissimilar to a 3-D pop-up book. There were large grey mountains in the distance, shrouded in looming ebony clouds. They looked menacing and acted as prison walls for this small piece of the never ending shadows.

Worldly features also adorned the Shadow Realm; monuments built for Ancient Gods, now left in this desolate place to rot. There were decrepit and crumbling temples, palaces with huge statues, their features long faded, overshadowing the foreign dark. Obelisks with fading ancient scripts stabbed at the pitch-black sky, and to the right of one of these markers were the Pyramids. They seemed larger in the Shadow Realm then their counterparts in their actual location in Egypt. They stood defiantly, as proud and magnificent as the Egyptians had made them to be though their great stone sides were falling apart as they were slowly chewed away by the corroding shadows.

It was as though the Shadow Realm was just the opposite side of a mirror into the Human World. A side unseen and secret. But no sooner had the Shadow Realm been unveiled, the process began to reverse. All of the buildings, temples, and even the dark mountains appeared to dematerialize, fading and blurring, like water splashed on a chalk drawing; utterly melting all the shapes and hues into the confused mess of darkness it was only moments ago.

A deep growl announced the approach of whatever had caused the strange disturbance. The ground shook. Tension grew and the very air was thick from nervous anticipation. Out of the heavy clouds appeared a beast of such great magnitude that with every step, it seemed the world would crumble. The mist surrounding it crackled with electricity and its skin emanated darkness. Its arms hung at its sides, hands curled into deadly fists with claws that could tear through any obstacle. It opened its mouth in another growl that invaded every corner of the Shadows. The sound grew until the air itself vibrated. The creature stopped, pausing in its trek, and began to shrink, downsizing rapidly. Its taught black skin and massive limbs thinned and grew more proportioned. The body deflated, the abnormal scales and claws retracting into it. Its dark red eyes glowed in endless hate and anger. After what could have been hours, or mere seconds, the creature grew small enough that it was swallowed up by the mists and could no longer be seen.

A form walked steadily out of the heavy dark from where the monster had disappeared. The form, quite obviously a man, paused and looked up though his eyes were closed now. He held his arms slightly away from him, palms up as though he were standing in the rain, despite that the only thing there to feel was mist. His hair was black. The uneven layers fell over his closed eyes, and lengthened until they hung just past his chin. He was clothed in black pants made of a material like leather. A sleeveless black shirt concealed his torso, but didn't hide his arms, which had black designs covering them from the tips of his fingers to his neck where the coiled tightly. The black marks, like inky tattoos, swirled slightly over his skin. It was as though the mist had melded with his skin, forming eery ghost-like swirls that continued to flow in tandem with the rest of the Shadows.

A whispering sigh floated over the strange man's face and his head snapped to the left. His hands fell back to his side, relaxed. His eyes opened, revealing them to be pure crimson, like twin pools of fire.

His red eyes fixed on a nondescript patch of cloud. Not a moment later a second figure stepped confidently through the billowing vapors. The newcomer's hair was long, stretching well past his shoulders, and hung in unruly white-silver tangles. He shook his hair, tinted purple by the unnatural atmosphere, out of his eyes and scanned the small clearing in the forest of thick smoke and mist. He paused on the first figure before walking forward so that they were a meter apart.

"Out for a stroll?" The white-haired figure asked, smiling a crooked half-smile. The tattooed man stood silently, not returning the grin. His blood-colored eyes narrowed slightly, but then he looked away, shrugging.

"The Shadow Realm isn't really the place to be practicing your sarcasm, Bakura. Don't try my patience." He replied finally with a dark voice that slid over the words like silk. "I've humored your request to speak with me, so don't waste my time."

Bakura laughed shortly, the sound was immediately swallowed up by the thick air. "Ah, no games tonight. Your sense of humor is strong as ever." He smirked. "In any case, I have my next plan ready. With Atem out of my way, merging two dimensions will be almost too easy."

"No." The black-haired man countered smoothly. The air around him sizzled with black sparks. His eyes turned to Bakura again. "Not this time. You are not going back Bakura. Your thirst for revenge will go unsatisfied, and you can consider your association with me and my dealings _over_."

Bakura opened his mouth to object, but Zorc interrupted viciously. "You've failed me, Bakura. Even with all the chances you had, you _failed!_ We had mutual goals before, but our agreements, and my patience with you, are fading with your defeat in Egypt's past. I will be taking matters into my own hands this time."

Anger flitted over Bakura's calm face and his fists clenched. "We have a deal, Zorc."

Zorc laughed, sparks jumping from his red eyes. "Don't even consider trying to tell me that you've never brushed off pawns when it was in your favor simply because you'd had a _deal._"

Bakura bristled then growled, "I am not one of your _pawns_. And with matters such as these, it isn't wise to break off agreements prematurely. You agreed to our terms, Zorc, now consider following through."

Dark red flames erupted along the ground around Zorc's feet. He stepped coldly over to Bakura, standing just taller then him. With a voice like daggers of ice, he hissed, "Agreed, yes, that if you could successfully defeat the Pharaoh and converge my world with yours then I would grant you the power of the shadows, the equivilent of my own, and you would have the satisfaction of seeing your enemies defeated. Do not think I don't remember the _terms _of our deal Bakura. _I_ was the one who merged part of our souls to seal the pact, giving you your uncanny inability to forge a path to the afterlife."

He grabbed Bakura's shirt with one hand, the designs on his skin swirling madly as though in tune to his anger. His eyes burned into Bakura's, like he could burn right into his thoughts. Then he snarled, "But you did not satisfy your end of the deal, and now the Pharaoh Atem has gone onto the next life while you are trapped _here _in my realm. Your quest to strip him of his power ended when he moved on. And you've proved that you are obviously just an incompetent mortal, like the rest of them, with your endless failures."

Bakura's red-tinted eyes flashed and he pulled away from Zorc heatedly. "I would have won. Every time, I would have won if it weren't for that stupid brat Yugi. He has an insatiable habit of getting in the way. But he doesn't have his baka 'yami' now. They wont suspect anything, seeing as how they think I was destroyed. By the time their slow minds have figured out that I've returned it will be too late for any of them."

The mist swirled like liquid around the two figures, wrapping their legs in black and purple tendrils of shadow that left dark stains wherever they touched. Zorc looked down on Bakura scornfully. "You truly expect me to allow you yet _another _chance?"

Bakura nodded once. "With the Pharaoh gone, and the mortals _unsuspecting_, it would be simplicity itself to accomplish our goals."

"You ask much of me, Bakura. What if you fail...again?" Zorc shook his head, but he had a strange smile on his lips.

The tense turn of conversation seemed to be past and Bakura smirked smugly. "I won't."

"The Millennium Items?" Zorc questioned.

"I need only one to accomplish my task, and I suspect that it will return to its place in due time."

"Your Hikari..." Zorc's red eyes were distant. "He is your tie to Earth...your anchor. He will be a key component in your plan." It wasn't a question.

Bakura frowned. "Yes. He's my tool, and my weapon." He smirked again. "I'm curious to see how he has changed since our last encounter."

Zorc was thoughtful. Then he smiled again, lips curving up into a feral grin. "Bakura, you entertain me. You are truly a creature after my own heart, one who would set the world on fire just to watch it burn..." He laughed, tossing Bakura a sideways glance. Then he said, his voice like poisoned honey, "Fine then. Our pact goes on...But I'm coming as well."

Bakura blinked in disbelief. "What? And just how do you intend on doing that?"

"Simply." Zorc smiled. "I join you in the mind of your Host, Ryou. Due to our souls being partially melded, my being there won't be that much of a difference for you, though your Hikari may feel some effects of my presence.

"The transfer will leave me incapable of even the most simple actions, of course. I will, in essence, hardly even be there consciously for some time. It will take days, possibly weeks, for me to strengthen. Time in which you can go through all the stages of your 'plan', but then you can perform the necessary ritual to let me manifest myself, since we're now working without the help of the Millennium Items."

Bakura paused, overviewing this new turn of events. Slowly he nodded. Zorc's prescence within Ryou would not hinder his plan in any way, and chances were that his Hikari wouldn't even know of the Shadow Lord's place in his subconscious. And in the end, the ritual to bring him into Earth physically would be made that much simpler.

Zorc nodded, then turned away. "Our transition into your Host will happen soon, after I create the appropriate conditions and infuse him with the Shadow Magic that will allow him to act as our vessel...after all, we wouldn't want him losing his mind." He smirked, red eyes looking amused.

"Don't look so worried Bakura, it won't harm him in any manner of permanence." Zorc laughed again, and Bakura scowled after him. Suddenly he turned back, scarlet eyes burning. His velvet voice was dangerous and absolute. "One more thing, my silly Bakura. I swear by _every soul_ this realm holds that if you fail me again I will tear your soul into shreds and feed them piece by piece to my Shadow Wraiths. I'll quench their thirst with your blood, and then leave you for the mists. And I'll ensure that any afterlife whatever is _left_ of your soul _may _have escaped to will be erased in all entirety. And while I do that, I'll be laughing." He chuckled as if to emphasize his threat, and then turned away.

Bakura watched him until he disappeared in the thick, purple-black clouds. Zorc didn't make hollow threats. On this point, Bakura was sure, Zorc would follow through, and Bakura didn't doubt in the least that he wouldn't enjoy it. _It would be best_, he thought to himself as he also turned back into the depths of the shadows, _not to fail this time_.

* * *

A/N: There's my redo chapter one (hopefully this will work out better then my last attempt). Thanks for reading, critiques and praises are welcome. Flames will be used to play with. Please review your way out!

ps. REALLY! CHECK MY PROFILE FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS! ALL IMPORTANT INFO WILL BE ON THERE!


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, after a months long Hiatus, Chapter 2.

* * *

The alarm beeped loudly. Its high-pitched wail drove nails into Ryou's ears, pushing him out of the pleasure of sleep and into the reality of wakefulness. With practiced precision, the waking teen's hand reached over and placed a finger over the button. After letting it go for five more seconds, ensuring that he was awake, he pressed, cutting the electric sound off abruptly.

"It's…it's…Saturday." He mumbled, putting one hand over his eyes and drawing the thick blue cover over himself more. The sun was streaming in the window, which acted like a magnifying glass, and sent a beam of yellow light directly onto Ryou's face. With a tired moan he rolled over to escape the brightness that pierced the dark beneath his closed eyelids, successfully throwing himself off the bed as mattress ended and floor began.

With an _oof_ he untangled himself from his blanket and pulled himself to his feet. He felt around for a shirt and, finding a grey one, pulled it over his bare torso. Then, eyes still closed against the invasive sunlight, Ryou stumbled blindly to the window that was allowing the blazing heat to enter his room. With a harsh yank he pulled the thick black curtains that bordered the panes of glass closed. The room was immediately tossed into dim shadows and half-lights.

Ryou rubbed his eyes and blinked groggily. Then, rubbing his head as he went, he returned to his bed and collapsed in a heap on the covers. He didn't stay there for long however because his stomach interrupted with a loud, rumbling growl.

Getting up more energetically this time he left his room quickly and jumped down the short flight of stairs to the landing below. Trotting into the kitchen he made a beeline for his favorite kitchen tool…the toaster. Toast was Ryou's typical breakfast. There was nothing better than a crisp piece of toast with a glass of cold milk to wash it down. Going around the black marble island-style counter to the toaster, Ryou snatched two pieces of wheat bread and dropped them into the empty trenches in the silver box. He set the dial high and then leaned against the counter to wait.

His eyes were partially closed as sleep still fought for control, and when the toaster bell _dinged_ loudly behind him it caused him to flinch. Retrieving his breakfast he took it to the counter and dropped it, shedding crumbs everywhere. The butter was on a small plate in the center of the counter with a knife beside it. Without hesitation he slathered butter on each piece of toast, humming to himself.

For the finishing touches he fetched himself a tall glass of milk.

Finally, after five minutes of preparation and little mess to clean up, he sat down at the counter stool and began munching the bread, washing down each bite with a draught of milk. As on every other day of the week, this was when he considered his schedule. Today being Saturday, it was relatively empty. He had little plans, although Yugi had said that he would call because he and the gang were hanging out at the Game Shop and then going to get some burgers at the nearest fast food restaurant.

Ryou looked forward to it. He and Yugi's friends, his friends, had been hanging out more and more since they'd started going to college. Joey and Tristan shared a dorm at the college itself. Yugi was still staying with his grandfather in the Game Shop and drove himself to college every day. Ryou also drove himself to campus each day, but he lived in his own little apartment building a few miles away where he had been living since he moved to Japan. Téa would have also been going to college with them, but she had opted to go on with her plan to become a dancer and had moved to New York when the school year had started to go to a Dance Academy.

Holding his breath, Ryou straightened up, arching his back and held it until he heard a pop and sighed. He slid away from the counter contentedly and dropped his now empty glass into the sink. A few minutes later he was back up the stairs and searching his room for some clothes.

He flipped through the articles hanging in his closet quickly, eyes scanning each item over before moving on to the next. Eventually he decided on a pair of pale blue knee-length shorts and a blue t-shirt. After putting them on he went into his bathroom to go on to the impossible task of taming his hair. As he looked in the mirror and winced at his appearance, which wasn't dissimilar to that of a stray cat, he wondered (not for the first time) why he'd let his hair grow so long. It was a battle trying to comb through it and make it look _decent _every morning.

If he just cut it, it wouldn't be such a hassle. Of course that would mean he'd need to dye it as well. Otherwise he would look like an old man, which he didn't want. And honestly, he would put up with the long hair to keep his natural silver-white color. He'd always been fond, and even prideful, of his hair. It was…unique.

Even still, dragging the brush through the tangles was like trying to get a cat to take a bath. You couldn't manage it without hurting yourself in the process. His head was always very sore after controlling the mess of his hair. After his appearance was decent, he brushed his teeth quickly.

Completely finished with his preparation for the day, he went in his room and looked over to his dresser, his eyes straying to the top drawer habitually. He had to remind himself that _that _part of his morning ritual was no longer necessary. It hadn't been necessary for five months. Ryou couldn't help but smile. Five months alone, and counting.

He turned out of his room without a backwards glance. He went back down the stairs and into the kitchen again, picking up his book bag along the way. He expected Yugi to call before lunch, but it was still relatively early and he had a paper he could get started for his Astronomy class in the mean time…

~. ~. ~. ~

The phone rang loudly. _Yugi_ Ryou thought to himself. He stood up from the counter, leaving his half-finished rough draft behind. The phone was in the next room, the living room, and it took a minute for Ryou to remember where he'd set it down. He sprinted to answer it before the answering machine could.

"Hello?" He said into the receiver.

"Ryou!" A familiar voice replied.

Ryou sat down on a nearby couch. "Hey Yugi-kun. What's up?" The question was unnecessary, since they both knew why he was calling.

"I just was wondering if you were still up for hanging out with me, Joey, and Tristan today?"

Ryou nodded then remembered he was on the phone. "Oh, yes. Definitely. What time at?"

Yugi seemed to think for a minute. "Probably in about thirty minutes. Joey said he had a project he wanted to get started on really quickly and that will give you time to drive down here."

"Um, yea, that works." Ryou agreed. He glanced over at his partially finished rough draft still sitting in the kitchen. "I'll be down in just a while then. I actually have a paper I want to work on too, so it might be just a little bit longer than that."

Yugi snorted and laughed. "You work too hard Ryou. Why don't you just take a break and come down now instead. I'm not doing anything, except cleaning, but Grandpa doesn't care if I do that later or not." He suggested.

Ryou thought about it, thinking about how many paragraphs he could write in the extra fifteen minutes he'd have if he declined. "Yugi, the paper's due this week—"

"Come on! Ryou, if you don't take a break you're going to turn into the next 'Seto Kaiba'" Yugi insisted.

"B-but…okay. Fine." Ryou finally agreed. His paper could wait, he supposed. Besides, he sort of had a headache. And working on the paper while he had a headache wouldn't do. "Alright. I'll be over in just a minute."

"Ok! See you then!" Yugi exclaimed. The phone clicked dead. Ryou sighed and put the phone back down on its dock.

He looked at the paper in the kitchen and rubbed his head slightly. "It'll wait. Yugi is right. I do work a lot." He murmured to himself, something he did quite often. He grabbed his keys off the hook in the front hall and grabbed a light jacket.

Locking the door behind him, he walked out of the cover of the overhanging roof and into the bright sunlight. His car, a white Honda, sat under a partial garage. He clicked the remote on his key ring and it unlocked with a honk. Smiling for no reason in particular, he slid into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.

_Put it into reverse, watch for other cars, pull out, put into drive, and off we go_… Ryou went over the steps to himself. It was something he always did when he was driving, going over the actual steps of driving while he drove. He thought it was probably a result of paranoia from his mother and sister's accident. Or maybe he was just an oddity. Either choice was completely feasible.

The drive to Yugi's home, also the Kame Game Shop, was short. It didn't take him longer than seven or eight minutes to get there. He pulled up and parked along the curb, ignoring the signs that informed him that you could only park there from 12-6 PM, and that violators would be towed. He knew that Muto-sensei wouldn't call a tow-truck and have his car towed. Ryou walked in the door. Music met Ryou as it was playing in the shop from upstairs, some loud rock. The little bell that was attached to the door jingled merrily and in no more than 30 seconds Yugi was flying down the stairs. He skidded to a stop behind the counter.

"Hello sir, can I help you?" He kidded, standing behind the register. Ryou laughed at the short teen, whose face was a mask of seriousness. Then both friends were laughing out loud. After a minute they managed to stop and they stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Hi Yugi. How has your weekend been so far?" Ryou asked politely, standing self-consciously by the counter, and still finding it hard to completely relax, even around his friends.

"All of last night and this morning? Well, I've just been helping Grandpa get this place cleaned up. It's been pretty messy lately." He gestured to the room around them and Ryou noted the disheveled games lining the walls, the dusty display cabinets, and the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling like streamers.

"Is something wrong with Muto-san?" Ryou inquired, eyes wide. Yugi shook his head.

"No, no. He's just getting older is what he says. It's harder for him to work all the time." Yugi replied.

"Well do you need some help?" Ryou asked, looking around. "When are the others getting here?"

"Soon. In probably twenty minutes."

Ryou nodded. "We can get some cleaning done in that time. But, Yugi, can we turn the music off?"

Yugi looked up the stairs, confused. "Yeah, sure, but how come?"

Ryou rubbed his temples. "I have sort of a headache."

Yugi laughed. "Sorry." He snickered. "I shouldn't laugh. But you know if you'd sleep more, work less, and not stress about work and school so much you probably wouldn't have a headache. I'll go turn it down." With that said, Yugi rushed up the stairs and in moments the music was down to a low murmur in the background.

"Much better." Ryou assured when Yugi came rushing back down.

"Do you need some ibuprofen or something?" Yugi asked with concern.

Ryou shook his head. "Of course not! It's actually already going away." Yugi didn't look convinced. "Really. It is. It was probably just a fluke, you know?"

Yugi accepted that and said, "Well, here we go." He pulled out some rags. "Let's start with the dust." Ryou took a blue rag and moved to one corner of the room while his friend started on the shelves that lined the walls. They worked quickly, removing the gray film from the countertops and games, and scrubbing the surfaces so that they were shiny and clean again. When Ryou got to the display cases he paused.

"Are you still in to Duel Monsters, Yugi-kun?"

Yugi looked over to where Ryou stood gazing into the display case, which held row upon row of sleek new cards. There was everything from Kuriboh to Black Luster Soldier to some of the pieces of Exodia, and even a limited edition Dark Magician, and those were only the monster cards.

"Are you?" Yugi flipped the question.

Ryou looked at the cards. "I have a few favorites, and I collected them before Duelist Kingdom. I've never personally played professionally like you, though."

"Um, yea. I am still. I duel every once in a while at the Kaiba Corp. Arenas. I need to keep up my title!" He smiled proudly, and began scrubbing a wooden shelf along the back wall, all the while thinking it best not to mention the multiple duels that Bakura had played in various tournaments.

"Oh, right, you're still 'Yu-Gi-Oh'. Game King, right?"

"Yeah. People, mostly kids, will challenge me to duels while I'm walking down the street. It gets…tiresome."

"I wouldn't want to be the King of Games. That would be too much publicity for me, I think." Ryou shook his head. "You handle it very well."

"It definitely takes a lot of getting used to." Yugi agreed. "The Pharaoh was better at it then I am."

They were both silent for a few minutes, working, when suddenly Yugi mentioned, "I wonder where Joey and Tristan are? They should have been here ten minutes ago. But while they've been keeping us waiting we've definitely got a lot done!" They looked around. There was no more dust covering the surfaces of the shop, and the display cases and shelves were bright and grit-free. The only thing that remained was the lovely cobwebs that were adorning the ceiling. "We'll need a ladder for those." Yugi pointed at them. "I'll go find one."

He ran up the stairs, yelling "Grandpa? Where's the step-ladder?"

Ryou looked around at the work they'd accomplished again. His eyes fell back to the rows of cards in the display case. Leaning casually over the glass counter, he looked at them all, picking out his favorites as he waited for Yugi to come back. His single most favorite card stared up at him from the top row.

The Change of Heart card.

He didn't know why it appealed to him. No, not true. He did know why. But that had been then, why did it appeal to him now? Probably because it just always had been his favorite. He had a hard time discarding old habits. _Time to pick a new favorite_ Ryou suddenly thought. _My old one doesn't fit anymore. _He looked at all the cards. There were so many choices. Did he want something that he felt like he could relate to? Or something that was just a good card?

When he couldn't decide on one he tried a new tactic. He closed his eyes, slid his finger over the glass, counted to three then stopped and opened his eyes. He looked at the card his finger had landed over.

Change of Heart.

Ryou frowned. "Well that was pointless." He muttered.

"I found one Ryou." Yugi's voice floated down the stairwell. Yugi, who carried a four-stair stepladder, soon appeared coming down the stairs. The ladder would be just tall enough for them to reach the spider trails that they were clearing away. He set it up in the middle of the room and climbed it, a duster in hand. He got to the third step and reached up but couldn't reach. He stepped up one more step and stood on his toes. He still fell just short of being able to wipe away the gray silk.

"Do you think you could get the webs Ryou?" He said apologetically, stepping down from the ladder.

Ryou smiled, "Of course." He grabbed a duster sitting on the counter and stepped up the ladder. Standing on the third step was sufficient for him to get to the unwanted gray decorations that accented the small shop. He began swiping away at them, moving to a new spot whenever he'd cleared one section.

Suddenly the bell on the door rang. A loud voice suddenly filled the room and both Yugi and Ryou paused in their cleaning.

"Yo! Sorry about the delay Yug. I got caught up on that project." Joey greeted them.

"Yeah" Tristan agreed. "It's a shock. Joey was actually _thinking_."

Joey glared at him and Tristan held up his hands defensively. "Kidding!"

"It's ok Joey. What's your project anyways?"

Joey leaped over and wrapped an arm around Yugi's neck. His arm stretched out as if panning an invisible horizon. "Ancient. Egypt." He said dramatically. "Kinda fitting, don't you think? It's a country project for that Culture class I'm taking. I thought 'Why not' since we went to Egypt and all that." He pumped a fist in the air, releasing Yugi. "I'm going to get an A on this one!"

"Yeah, because there's a first time for everything." Tristan said. Joey jumped at him and he swung himself over the counter and out of Joey's path. Joey tried to follow and ended up hitting a game box, knocking it to the floor.

"Hey, careful guys! Ryou and I just cleaned this place." Yugi complained. Ryou was standing by the stepladder, feeling out of place.

Tristan looked up from the chokehold that Joey had him in. "What time are we going, anyways?"

"I don't know." Yugi said. "I was just playing it by ear."

Tristan punched Joey in the stomach jokingly and wrestled his way away from him. "I say we go now. I, for one, am starved."

"Alright then!" Joey said enthusiastically and began to lead the way out the door. "I'm driving!"

Yugi shook his head and followed behind Joey and Tristan. Ryou brought up the rear. Yes, these were his friends, but he still felt like he was intruding. He'd always felt like a third wheel.

"Come on Ryou!" Yugi called from Joey's truck. Ryou smiled and hurried to catch up. Yugi seemed to enjoy his company though. So there was really no reason for him to feel like he was an unwanted addition to the group.

~. ~. ~. ~

Two and a half hours later, after they had gone to get lunch and then gone to the arcade and spent far too much money on games, Ryou was back at his house and writing on his rough draft again. Yugi had asked Ryou if he wanted to stay at the game shop with he and Joey, but Ryou had declined with his paper in mind. That and other things.

His headache had come back while they were at the arcade, and he was beginning to think that he was coming down with something. It was just an off-and-on headache that didn't seem to want to go away, but he knew that sometimes indicated an oncoming cold. And he enjoyed hanging with his friends, but didn't feel like putting up with Joey and Tristan's loud outbursts and laughing when all he really preferred at the moment was quiet.

So he was back at his apartment doing schoolwork. Again.

He sighed. Yugi was so right. Ever since school had started, it had been his number-one priority. That was a good thing, but he was doing schoolwork more than anything else. Before he'd done it because it was a distraction from everything else and now he focused on it because he wanted to get a good career. Still. Maybe he should relax more. That might be why he was getting sick. The late nights working on papers and research and early mornings preparing for the day must have been building up.

Glancing at the clock (it was almost 4:00) he bit his lip then shoved his paper away. "Okay, time to relax a little bit." He said to himself, shuffling into his tiny apartment living room. The quiet was a comfort as Ryou collapsed to the couch, a hand massaging his temples. Today he could truly appreciate that he didn't share an apartment with anyone else. _Anymore, _he added silently.

The ceiling above him led his eyes on a trail across the patterned stucco. Ever since he'd moved into the tiny living space, he'd enjoyed just lying on the ground, couch, or his bed and following the swirling bumps and messy textures of the white ceiling with his eyes. He usually tried to find pictures within the coarse surface. Today he just followed a trail until it ended and then found a new one. It was a pointless pastime with no value, but for a day like today it was just the type of thing Ryou preferred doing.

He let his eyes follow a particular trail. It traveled in a circle, then spilled inside the circle and made its way to three points of the circle before joining back up with it again. The circle, imperfect, had smaller trails running out along the side of the circle in spaced sections. Ryou followed the trail again, then turned on his side and snatched the remote from the small coffee table, flipping on the TV quickly.

The sound of afternoon sitcoms aggravated his mildly aching brain, but he didn't mind. He stared at the screen and forced himself to be interested in what was going on. He glanced back up at the ceiling above him, nervous. There was no circle of stucco. He couldn't even find the trail he'd followed. It was his imagination. He sighed, feeling relieved for a reason he couldn't explain.

With a click, the television flickered off. Ryou went back into the kitchen, took a dose of painkillers, and sat back at the counter. His paper wasn't going to write itself.

* * *

I REALLY apologize for the delay. I also apologize if this bored anyone. It'll get better, but I had a request for Ryou time before Bakura entered the story. I hope this satisfies them. And once again, I am so sorry for the delay.

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (yay!): I hope this makes sense to people... You'll recognize a little itty bit from the very bottom from my previous story. See, I'm just dragging this version out...

* * *

The prattling words of the physics professor were like tiny needles piercing Ryou's ears. Only half of what he taught actually got through and registered as '_Important'_ to the teen. His laptop, open to a blank document, was supposed to be his way of taking notes. Instead, Ryou was pressing one hand to his head and the other drummed against the armrest/desk he was using.

He glanced at the clock. It had only moved a few spaces since he'd last checked. Groaning silently, he massaged his head with two fingers.

"Bakura-kun, are you ok?" Ryou looked to his left, and the girl who'd whispered at him (from around a boy, who glared at them in irritation) waved slightly. "Really, you look awful." She hissed, looking concerned.

Ryou smiled, forcing it to look real. He'd had enough practice with _that _one. "Thank you Mitsu. I'm fine though." He turned back to his laptop and began typing to make it look like he was taking notes. He wondered vaguely if she knew he was lying through his teeth.

He'd come to his classes this morning feeling fine. The day before had seen that Ryou's headache had completely vanished, and he'd felt completely normal. Obviously he'd come to school. He didn't skip for headaches that had bothered him a day and a half ago. It had been part way through his astronomy class, for which he'd turned in a completed paper that the headache had stubbornly come back.

And if he'd thought the headache had been bad back on Saturday…well, then this was absolute torture. It felt like a hammer was pounding against broken glass inside his head, and, strangely, the headache even seemed to seep down to his neck and spine. Maybe he had some sort of flu?

He tried to look at the clock again, but realized that with every throb his vision blurred slightly before focusing again.

Ryou shot his hand in the air. "Yes Bakura-san, do you have something to add to what Monabe just said?" The teacher said loudly, looking at him expectantly.

He took a shallow breath. "I need to be excused, Najima-sensei."

"I'm sorry, but this is a very important lecture. You need to be here for it." The professor replied. Ryou was already shoving his papers and laptop into his brown book bag though. He stumbled down the stairs to the bottom of the amphitheater-like room.

"I'll come and talk to you before class on Wednesday." He said, standing as straight by the door as he could.

The teacher looked at him suspiciously but nodded. "See that you do. And, Bakura-san?" he said. Ryou gritted his teeth and looked back. "Go and see a doctor, you look as though you're going to pass out."

Ryou nodded stiffly. "Thank you Najima-sensei." Then he walked out the door, leaving the stuffy room behind.

"Maybe I _should_ go see a doctor." Ryou mumbled to himself. _But a doctor will just give me some medicine that does exactly the same thing as a simple painkiller. _He thought in reply. He walked in the empty bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. It didn't help. "Ok. I'll go to the doctor." He said to his reflection in the mirror. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and then walked back out, book bag in hand.

Driving was terrifying. His headache made concentrating difficult, and his eyes blurred every once in a while when his head throbbed especially hard. He almost ran a red light twice when he wasn't paying attention. Finally he got to his doctor's office. He tried to remember the last time he'd been here, and couldn't. It occurred to him that he didn't get sick very often, probably because he lived alone and rarely had visitors.

But Yugi and the others _had _been coming over more over the past few months. Maybe one of them had been sick recently and had given him something. Or maybe he'd just been unlucky.

He turned the key off and got out, walking into the small white building.

Inside, a few people sat in soft chairs either reading a magazine or conversing quietly. The repetitive buzzing of an incoming phone call sounded. A small television in the corner showed the news. He stepped up to the counter where an old woman was filling out a document.

"Excuse me." Ryou said, leaning on the counter.

"Do you have an appointment?" The woman said roughly without looking up.

Ryou sighed. "No. But are there any openings today?"

She gave him an annoyed look, but turned to a boxy computer and began typing. "I'm sorry, but we don't really—"

Ryou leaned over the counter more. "Please? It's important." He said, the throbbing worsening in a sudden wave that made him feel almost nauseous.

She frowned. "There is an Insta-care further in town for things like this, you know. But if you insist, the doctor may be able to see you between two of his scheduled appointments. It'll be about a half-hour."

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble."

"Name?"

"Ryou Bakura." He closed his eyes, concentrating on making the headache go away.

The tapping paused. "Has any of your personal information, address, phone number, emergency contacts, etcetera, changed since your last visit?"

"No."

"Ok, have a seat, and I'll call when the doctor can see you."

Ryou shuffled over to a chair in a corner and sat down and resumed massaging his head in an attempt to fix it. He groaned as, after a few minutes, it impossibly worsened. He sighed, considering Yugi's reaction to his absence, since they shared their next class, calculus. Yugi would probably worry, since he rarely missed a day of school. Or maybe he was just wishful thinking.

He frowned. Did Yugi actually enjoy his company, or did he just pity him? It was one of his old worries, his old doubts. What did other people think; what did Yugi and the others think? Why were they so difficult to read? Did Yugi just feel bad because Ryou lived alone, and he'd had to deal with a sadist attempting to control him for half his life? Or maybe he felt like it was partially his own fault since it had been _his _other half that had started the entire ordeal, and was trying to compensate.

_No_ Ryou thought. _Yugi is my friend, and hangs out with me because we're friends. Not because of the past. _He pushed the negative thoughts away, chastising himself for thinking them at all.

"Ryou Bakura?" A voice called. Ryou looked up quickly, causing his eyes to blur a little. "The doctor can see you now." The woman at the front desk said.

"Thanks again." He said quietly as he went past, through the door, and into the back. A nurse stood waiting for him and took him into an empty room.

She smiled. "Ok, do you have a fever?"

"No." Ryou shook his head. "Just a headache."

She gave him a sympathetically skeptical look. "It's bad." Ryou promised.

Nodding she said. "Okay, the doctor will be right in." She opened the door, and almost ran into an older man wearing light brown scrubs.

"Sorry!" She said. He smiled, a kind old-person smile that made the skin around his eyes crinkle.

"Not a problem." He stepped around her and came into the room. "Now what seems to be _your_ problem, Bakura-san?"

"Oh, I've been having…" He drifted off. The doctor waited a moment then said, "Bakura-san?"

Ryou shook his head, snapping back to the present. "I've been having headaches."

"I see." The doctor nodded, sitting down on a stool opposite Ryou. "You have one now, I'm assuming?"

Ryou shook his head. "Actually, I _did_, and it just went away." And it had. Ryou's head felt completely normal, as though he'd never had a problem. The headache had just disappeared.

"Ok, well, headaches sometimes do that. But I'm assuming it was bad if you came here without an appointment for it."

Ryou nodded silently. "Do you have a history of regular headaches?" The doctor asked, grabbing a clipboard with a sheet on it.

"No."

"Have you been taking any medications recently that may have caused headaches?"

Ryou thought about it for a minute before saying, "Not that I can think of. I mean, typical painkillers, but those were for the headaches in the first place."

The doctor wrote some words before asking, "When did these headaches start?"

"Saturday." Ryou replied. "And they aren't like some headaches I've had in the past where it's just in one spot. It's like it was my entire brain was throbbing, and it felt like it was affecting my spine too. It just…it was the worst headache I've ever had."

Looking contemplative he said, "Are they sharp pains or dull?"

"Both."

He pulled out a small flashlight and said, "Look straight ahead." He clicked it on and shined it at Ryou's eyes, moving it back and forth. He clicked it off and then used a finger, moving _it _across his field of vision.

"Do you have problems with your eyesight?" He said, leaning back.

"I don't…think so."

"And…have you been particularly stressed for any reason lately? Anxious about work…" He looked up from the clipboard.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I wouldn't say that it's any more then usual though." Ryou said.

He wrote down a few more things before saying, "Well, I think that what you're probably experiencing are some aggressive migraines. They turn up in people with high levels of stress or anxiety, or maybe there's something in your diet that's triggering them. In any case, they seem to be more severe then some if they're like you say, so I would suggest relaxing a bit more and if you drink a lot of caffeinated or sugary drinks, I'd cut back because that would help. I'll prescribe you some painkillers that are stronger then the typical over-the-counter brands."

He pulled out a white slip and began writing the prescription, continuing, "If they keep up as bad as they have been, and don't start showing signs of getting better, then come back in. When you do get them, I'd suggest lying down for awhile and waiting it out."

Ryou smiled, feeling excellent now that his head was clear. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Bakura-san. Sorry this had to be such a quick check-up." The doctor handed him the prescription and walked out the door.

"No, it's my fault."

Ryou followed, paying quickly at the front counter to the woman, and then going back outside to his car. He drove to the nearest pharmacy, picking up the prescription (though at this point he didn't think he'd be needing it), and then drove back to his apartment. It wouldn't be worth it to drive all the way back to the college.

When he got to his house he decided he'd check his emails and see if his father had sent him anything. His only contact with his father was through email, or surface mail. Ryou could barely remember his father's voice, because the last time they'd spoken had been almost six years ago when he'd first moved to Japan. His father's job couldn't pay for a cell phone, and pay phones rarely could make calls to Japan.

His computer booted slowly, but finally he got to his inbox. He scrolled through his emails, most of them already read, until he found an unopened one from the day before.

From: Sean Bakura Subject: Archeological Dig

Ryou smiled and shook his head. Archeology was almost the only thing that his father talked about, with the occasional question about his son's life thrown in every paragraph or so. He clicked on it. The message inside was short.

Ryou, how are you? I know I haven't emailed you in almost three weeks. Sorry, son! But we've been excavating a site that we think may be the tomb of a relative of Ramses III, and the artwork and glyphs in the tomb are absolutely amazing. Remind me to send you some pictures of them.

Speaking of excavation points, my team and I are moving to a site that's actually on an island just off the coast of Egypt, just as soon as the work here is done. It seems to have a collapsed tomb as far as the board of Egyptologists can tell, and they've put my team on excavation work. If we find anything, I'll be sure to let you know.

By the way, how's college?

~Dad

Ryou shook his head. Just like his father to ask about him in the last sentence. He clicked the reply button and gave his response.

College is great, though it's apparently been stressing me out to the point where I've been getting mind-splitting migraines.

Glad to know that you're enjoying your work, dad. I hope that you can find all those mummies you just know are waiting to be discovered. A relative of Ramses III? Is it an important relative, or just a mystery mummy? You'll have to let me know if you find anything.

Good luck on that collapsed tomb of yours. Maybe there's some buried treasure in there.

~Ryou

p.s. Don't forget to send me some pictures!

Ryou sighed and signed off his account. He began spinning in his chair, wondering what he should do next. The house was clean, his schoolwork was done, chances were that Yugi, Joey, and Tristan would only just be getting out of school and wouldn't be able to do anything. He wasn't sure he felt like hanging out with the gang today anyways.

The doorbell rang.

Ryou stood up and went to answer it. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Yugi standing on the step.

"Yugi, what are you doing here?" Ryou exclaimed, honestly surprised to see the short teen.

Yugi looked up at him. "You weren't at school today, Najima-sensei said you'd left. I just came to make sure you were ok."

"Well come in." Ryou said, opening the door further.

Yugi stepped inside. "So, are you ok?"

"Yeah." Ryou said. "It was the weirdest thing. I just had a bad headache during class and so I left. Turns out that I'm having migraines."

"I told you that you're working too hard Ryou." Yugi said, following Ryou into the living room.

"I guess you were right. My doctor said I needed to relax." He sighed. "Relaxing is harder then I thought though. I feel like I should be doing something, not just sitting around."

"Well," Yugi looked around innocently. "Do you want to play a game?" He asked.

Ryou grimaced. "Duel monsters?"

Yugi pulled out a deck, smiling apologetically. "Yeah, I haven't played in a while, and I'm still 'Yu-Gi-Oh' technically. I wanted some practice."

"You know I'm not very good at this game. Why didn't you ask Joey to play you? He's almost as good as you." Ryou said, but grabbed his deck of cards off a shelf and shuffled them, sitting down on the couch.

"Joey's good, but I play him almost every time. I know his moves backwards." Yugi admitted, putting his cards down.

"Okay, only because I have nothing better to do though." Ryou complained good-naturedly. Yugi took the first turn, starting the game.

It went on in silence for a while, each taking turns. About five minutes into the game, with Yugi already winning, Yugi said suddenly, "You know, I wish I had lost."

"Lost what?" Ryou said, tossing a monster into the graveyard.

Yugi turned a card over, revealing a step in his strategy. "That duel, the last one. I should've lost."

Ryou sighed. This had come up before, and not just once. "No, Yugi. You were supposed to win. It's what the Pharaoh wanted."

"What if he—"

"Stop." Ryou said, trying to be as comforting as possible. "We've gone over this, Yugi." He flipped a magic card, revealing the Change of Heart. "He wanted to go where he belonged. The Pharaoh was your friend, and he didn't want to leave you, but this just wasn't where he was supposed to be."

He took Yugi's Dark Magician, placing it on his side of the field. "You don't have to forget him, but you should try to focus on the friends you have here."

Yugi frowned and switched his monsters to defense mode. "You'd never think I'd be so regretful about winning…"

"It is rather ironic." Ryou agreed, frowning at his friend and opponent's facedown cards. "I'll activate Dust Tornado and remove that trap you're hiding." He said.

Yugi tossed a trap to the graveyard, not looking concerned.

"I'm going to lose again…" Ryou muttered, disappointed by Yugi's uncaring reaction.

"Most likely, but maybe you'll get lucky." Yugi said sympathetically. "You're better than Joey was before he got into it."

"Right." Ryou said, attacking one of his defense position monsters. "And you're just the best strategic duelist in the country." He frowned, touching his head.

"Are you getting a stress-related migraine?" He asked.

Ryou stared at the cards on the table. "No…"

Disbelieving, violet eyes turned on him. "You're lying, aren't you?"

"I'm sure it's just a small one. It'll go away." Ryou wondered, though, if it was normal for migraines to hit so suddenly, and so often. The doctor hadn't mentioned anything about the migraines really; just that he guessed Ryou had them. What if it was something more serious?

"Are you ok?" Yugi asked quietly.

"I'm just paranoid. The headaches will go away in a few days, if even that." He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the waves of heavy, sharp, and dull pains throb periodically. The black behind his eyelids pulsed, and he felt like just letting himself drift and numb himself to the aches that ebbed and flowed. He sighed silently, and thought, I'm really not enjoying them while they last though.

"I think I just won." Yugi broke into his thoughts, and he twitched slightly as though coming out of a nap. "Can you chain?"

"Wha…" Ryou looked at the game boards that held their cards. He didn't even remember taking his turn. Or remember Yugi having the attack power to beat the duel at all. When had the game ended so suddenly? "Wow, I can't. So I guess you did…" He leaned forward, puzzled, looking at the cards on the table. "That game flew."

Yugi looked at the clock. "I've had faster duels." He shrugged. "You lasted quite a while."

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm glad your headache didn't get any worse, otherwise we might not have been able to finish." Yugi said, gathering up his cards. "Thanks for the practice. I think you are getting better. That was actually challenging."

Ryou knew that he could take that insultingly, but was too confused to worry about it, and just said, "Thanks." Instead. He didn't remember saying that his headache had gone away. And he didn't remember having any sort of strategy that would have challenged Yugi in any way. The only thing he could figure was that he'd just shut his brain off and played on a sort of autopilot for the end of the duel. "Strange…" He mumbled under his breath.

Yugi had gotten his things. "Well, Grandpa is probably wondering where I got off to. Thanks for dealing with the duel, I know you don't really like playing all that much."

"No problem, it actually got my mind off things." Literally, he added to himself.

After Yugi had gone, he decided to get an early night. The headache couldn't bother him while he was asleep. He ate a small dinner of rice and soybeans before taking a shower and getting into a pair of old sweats. He swallowed two of the painkillers the doctor had prescribed him, washing them down with water, and brushed his teeth to get rid of the after taste lingering in his throat.

Finally, honestly tired, he crawled into bed and let his head rest against the pillow. He fell into a light sleep instantly, and as the night grew older, his mind sank lower into unconsciousness.

The moon was just beginning to rise, shining through Ryou's window, opened a crack, and onto the sleeping boy's face. It was calm, but had a slight tension because of the persistent pains of a migraine. A warm breeze fluttered some papers posted to the walls, and the silvery hair framing the teen's face ruffled gently over his skin.

He frowned, the stresses of the day, his confusions and doubts, accumulating in his dreams. Combined in his subconscious, they took the form of the source of his doubts and the cause of his stress, haunting him despite that the fear itself was long gone, destroyed somewhere in his past.

Ryou pulled the blanket around him tighter, his almost silent voice forming a single word.

"_Bakura_…"

* * *

Haha! That's fastest update I've ever had on this story! Think of it as payment for my, um, Hiatus...Anyways!

REVIEW PLEASE!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's another update! I feel like this story is actually starting to take shape again, which makes me SO happy. Anyways, I had to write this chapter like a puzzle because I wanted to put pieces of the last version of it but also needed to impliment some new ideas. I hope that didn't cause it to be confusing, by any means! Enjoy~

* * *

Ryou's brown eyes blinked open slowly. He felt the confusion that came with a mind still submerged in sleep, and almost let himself relax back into the blissful uncaring that came with unconsciousness. He let his bleary eyes close again, resting against his knees, which he pulled up against his chest. But something was off, and he knew that it would tug at him until his half-asleep mind figured out what it was. He shook his head a little to rid it of the tired dizziness, rubbing his eyes, and forced himself awake. It didn't take him long to figure out what was bothering him about his present situation.

The shock of what he saw, or rather what he _didn't _see, caused him to cry out loudly in surprise. He scrambled backwards, away from the pitch black, darker then would seem possible, which was all he could see before him.

At first he literally wondered if he'd somehow become blind, the dark was so complete. He let out a sigh of relief when he held a hand up to his face and could clearly see his slender, pale fingers. But his appeasement was short lived, even as he looked down at himself, realizing that he was somehow illuminated even though there were no lights anywhere around, even above him. His skin was bright as looked at his hand curiously. The frame of untidy silver-white hair around his face almost shone in contrast to the blackness that encroached upon him.

He clambered to his feet, wary of anything that might come out of the solid darkness. Looking around, he realized it wasn't just in front of him. It was all around. He was standing in the midst of black nothingness. Nothing he could see suggested the presence of an object. His eyes opened wider, straining to see _something_.

He breathed out, taking a deep calming breath, which clouded in front of him. He rubbed his arms. He shifted his bare feet, sliding them over the cold, smooth surface he stood on. Wherever he was, it was very cold. The temperature seemed to drop more every moment that he stood there.

He took a second deep breath, trying to accept his surroundings. Somewhere in the corner of his mind it registered that he was dreaming. He recognized in a small way that he was still asleep, and none of this was real. It _seemed_ real though. The silence pressed thickly against his ears, smothering him. He felt very alone, though he knew any number of things could hide in a place as dark as this. A natural fear of what he couldn't see began to set it, brushing an icy finger down his spine.

He took a few steps in one direction, then stopped indecisively and started in another, before finally just standing still and listening. His ears strained against the quiet screaming into them, searching for any sound while his eyes scanned the black for any indication of something apart from his charcoal surroundings.

"Hello?" He called, forcing himself to sound brave. Only a slight tremor gave away his confusion and fear. His voice, instead of going out and echoing, as it should have in a large room, was muffled, like it had been swallowed by the dark. He wondered if maybe he was actually in a small room with black walls and no lights, explaining the way his voice just faded. Of course it didn't explain how he himself was completely visible, but he would worry about that later. He walked forward, trying to find evidence that he was in an enclosed space rather then in the middle of _nothing _as it appeared.

After walking for an immeasurable amount of time—seeing as how his sense of time seemed as confused as he felt. He couldn't really tell whether he'd walked seconds or minutes or longer—he realized that he wasn't going to find any walls or obstructions. Somehow that was even more unnerving than the idea of being trapped in a small room. Ryou felt small, lost, and utterly insignificant in…wherever he was in this nightmare. Every moment that passed put him more on edge. He bit his lip, only just keeping a lid on his panic. Where was he? Why did he feel so unreasonably panicked? Why couldn't he just _wake up_?

_Hello Ryou_…

His heart lurched, leaping into his throat, and his head automatically snapped in the direction of the voice. His eyes and ears searched for the source. He stood up straighter and did a decent job of pretending he wasn't terrified to his core.

"Come out…" Ryou demanded clenching his shaking hands into tightly curled fists.

A breeze blew very gently against his back, tousling his hair. It seemed to suck away his feigned bravery. Ryou's imagination played tricks on him, as a quiet laugh trilled over him with the breath of wind. He mentally shied away from his deceptive imaginings. He concentrated on blocking out all his fears and instead began telling himself that it wasn't real. _Obviously_ he was having a nightmare. But it felt real to him, and that was what mattered right now. His emotions, his senses, his irrational fear of the nothing around him, and his sense of awareness were too actual for him to be able to accept that he was sleeping in reality.

Ryou looked down at himself again, and it dawned on him that him being illuminated was making him vulnerable to anything in the perfect black around him. Whatever it was that he could sense watching him could see him perfectly, with him being completely visible. He, on the other hand, couldn't see it under the cover of this lightless place he was in. He felt like a deer caught in the oncoming headlights of speeding traffic. His lungs felt tight as the thoughts crept through his mind.

He was vulnerable… It was protected; he was exposed. It could be anywhere around him. It could be sneaking up, just waiting for the right moment to—

"No!" Ryou yelled. He breathed heavily, fatigued by his sudden release of welled up panic. He closed his eyes, calming himself again.

'_Why are you yelling, Hikari? No one is going to hear you…' _A voice said softly in his mind, causing him to freeze. His breath caught in his lungs. He knew that voice. How many times had he heard it whisper lies in his mind? How many years had it caused him misery by telling him how weak, how alone, how helpless he was? He refused to let it happen again.

He felt a hand set gently onto his shoulder. Forcing himself out of his mind's distress, he turned around quickly. Despite the recognition he'd felt, he bit his tongue hard when he saw the all-too-familiar figure beside him. He knew he was trapped in a nightmare now, because in no reality could this demon that he faced be real. He was gone, destroyed, out of his life. But old habits died hard, and he couldn't help but cringe under the sadistic grin of his absolute opposite.

Bakura, dressed in a black and white striped shirt and pale blue pants, gave Ryou an amused smile, as Ryou pulled away from him quickly.

"W-what...how are you...?" Ryou stammered, drifting off as the worst thing that had ever happened to him took a step closer.

"Don't act so surprised, Hikari." He chided, his lips curved in an un-humorous half smile. "You didn't _really _think I'd just left you all alone, did you? After all, how many times have I told you that I'm not going anywhere? You really should've expected me."

Ryou didn't answer, just looked away, refusing to meet the spirit's eyes. He took another step away from him, distancing them as much as he dared without angering Bakura. The spirit's eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid, Yadonushi?"

"No." Ryou said steadily, his eyes fixed on the ground.

Bakura smirked. "Why don't I believe you?" Everything was silent as Ryou clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer. Bakura stepped towards him, forcing him too look up at him by lifting his chin with a strong hand.

"You don't need to be afraid of me, Hikari. I have no desire to harm you." Ryou blinked at his Yami's softer tone. But Bakura's eyes were cold. Though the words were meant to reassure Ryou, that's all they were. Words. The spirit didn't mean them; he was just trying to get into Ryou's head, like he always had.

Ryou pursed his lips, fighting the urge to rip his head free of Bakura's grip. Finally he said quietly, "I'm not afraid." He took a deep breath. "You aren't real. None of this is real. It's just a dream."

Bakura's laugh faded into the dark as suddenly as it had left his mouth. "You think you're dreaming? I assure you, Ryou." The soft tone was gone as amusement at Ryou's statement took its place. Bakura's mirthful smirk grew, dashing the hopes Ryou had of his nightmare disappearing. "This is all quite real."

The sentence fixed itself into Ryou's mind, forcing him to doubt his assumption. _This is real_. He didn't want to believe that those few words could be true. With one sentence, his life would begin to fall apart again, and he knew that it would be the spirit's fault. His life was nothing with him…and yet…didn't it seem like something was missing while he wasn't there? _No_, Ryou answered himself. _Absolutely not._

"What, don't you have anything to say?" Bakura asked, annoyed at his Host's silence.

"The headaches are because of you." Ryou accused softly.

Bakura looked at Ryou analytically. "Headaches?" He asked curiously.

Ryou glared slightly, remembering the mind-splitting migraines that had been assaulting him all week. "Don't treat me like I don't know what I'm talking about. This happened the first time too! When you first came."

The unknowing stare that Bakura fixed on Ryou confused him. "It…it isn't you?" He asked.

Bakura's thoughts turned to Zorc, and the possible _side effects _that he'd said Ryou might feel. The fact that Zorc was physically affecting his Host was news to him, and he felt a wave of irritation at the realization.

They were both silent for a moment, but finally Ryou steadily asked, "What do you want? The Items are gone…there isn't anything left for you here."

Tossing a sideways glance at the teen beside him, Bakura said, "I don't think you truly grasp the way our 'relationship' works." He folded his arms over his chest. "You and I are inextricably connected. Our souls are not entirely separate, as you seem to believe…they're simply not _together_. And as long as you are alive, I have an anchor to your world." He put a hand on Ryou's shoulder again.

"Me." Ryou said, brushing Bakura's hand away cautiously, not wanting to try his temper.

"Yes." Bakura confirmed. "Besides that, must I have a reason for wanting to exist? Perhaps I simply felt like visiting my Hikari…" Ryou frowned. _Not likely. _He thought, trying to hang onto a shred of hope that maybe this _was _a dream. Maybe he could still get out of this nightmare before it became worse then it already was.

Bakura paused, gazing at his Host who stood there, looking at the ground, only his shaking hands giving away that he hadn't forgotten the past. The teen had become more confident over the five months Bakura had been away. But it hadn't changed him completely. He was still polite, timid, and he was still afraid of the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. But that fear of Bakura was only because of years of living with him, and years of influence. Ryou's strength had been overtaxed before, but now it seemed replenished. Ryou was stronger now, and he was more defiant. It was possible he would be able to withstand Bakura now that he knew what he was up against. He was more prepared…

But Bakura was prepared also, and this time his tactics were different. Breaking Ryou may not be necessary if he was compliant. Gaining the boy's trust would be difficult at this point, but he enjoyed a good challenge, and to have it was to strengthen his own defenses.

While Bakura had been drifting in the Shadow Realm, recovering his strength and waiting for Zorc to agree to see him, he had gone over every detail of his last shadow game with the Pharaoh. He had considered every perspective and looked at every angle. There was not a person, place, or time left out of his recount of events. Mostly, he had scrutinized his own weaknesses, and those of his enemies, despite that the Pharaoh had already moved on. It had occurred to him that every time the Pharaoh was weak and in need of aid, one person, along with his little pack of pests, had always come to stand by his side; the Pharaoh's own Hikari, Yugi. His bond with his little "partner" had given him strength when his own was pathetically insufficient. It was that little _brat's _fault that the world was not already one with the Shadows, and that Bakura was nearly done away with.

Of course, his own wit had allowed him one more chance, and the odds were far more in his favor this time around. But he thought that maybe, seeing as how Yugi had given strength to the Pharaoh, that Ryou could provide strength for himself (not that he _needed_ the strength of his weaker half), and the other being residing in his mind. And so gaining Ryou's trust had become a less substantial part of his overall plan. It wasn't necessary, and if Ryou refused to accept Bakura, then Bakura could just as easily use Ryou's body forcefully…but it would be interesting to see how Ryou handled a choice between 'friends' and his Yami.

"You never told me what you wanted… Why are you here?" Ryou's quiet voice, partly afraid, partly disappointed, partly angry, broke into Bakura's thoughts.

"Obviously because I need your help." Bakura said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ryou looked at him, standing tall. "My help, or my _body?_"

Bakura smiled at his defiant little tool. "Your help, Hikari."

That was obviously not the answer Ryou expected, and he seemed to fall back a little bit. After all, Bakura had never asked for Ryou's actual conscious help before. It didn't occur to him that his Yami might be telling only half the truth. Or perhaps it did…

"You're lying, aren't you?" Ryou asked, his voice quiet again.

Bakura raised one eyebrow. "Am I?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "What reason would I have for lying about this? If I wanted the use of your body, I could take it. I don't need your permission, Hikari. And as I said, I have no desire to harm you. You don't need to worry about that…unless of course you choose to be _rebellious_."

Ryou bit his lip, but shook his head, not entirely sure what he was agreeing to by promising to not be 'rebellious'. That could mean anything. But he wanted to avoid the demon's anger for now. He would deal with Bakura's definition of 'rebellious' another time. He sighed, "Why do you even need my help? I don't have the Millennium Ring anymore."

"Because there's no other way." Bakura said, honest in the statement. "And I understand that the Millennium Ring was lost in Egypt." He informed. "I also happen to know that there are Archeological Excavations of that particular site going on in the near future. They'll find the Millennium Ring, and I have no doubt that the Ring will make its way back to you…After all, you are destined to have it Yadonushi," he said tracing Ryou's jaw with a flawless finger causing him to flinch away, "and the Millennium Ring _always_ returns to the one it has chosen to hold it."

Unease stirred in Ryou's chest as vaguely recalled his father's excitement over the new site they would be excavating. He knew that the chances of it being _the _excavation were slim, but it still worried him. He turned his attention back to Bakura. "What do you need me to do? Specifically." Ryou asked grudgingly.

"Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle, Hikari." Bakura gritted his teeth slightly. "I need you to trust me. If all goes as planned we'll need to help each other, Hikari. And that includes trust."

Ryou looked at him incredulously. "_Trust_ you? There's nothing trustworthy about you!"

Dark red-brown eyes narrowed. "Careful, Hikari." He threatened softly. Ryou immediately looked down, closing his mouth tightly, but the expression on his face said he only did so to avoid conflict, not out of any sense of submission to Bakura. Bakura knew that he would have to change the mold his Hikari had been fitting into soon. His bold resistance was admirable, but would not be satisfactory for his plans. He knew that it might be necessary to break him again, more effectively, and it was entirely possible that after a second time the teen wouldn't recover. "Aside from your trust, I need you to tell me exactly what has happened with the Pharaoh's brat since you and I last spoke." Bakura said coldly.

Ryou wondered if he should reveal anything about Yugi to his Yami. If Bakura was asking about him, it probably wasn't good for Yugi.

"Why do you need to know that?" Ryou asked.

"None of your concern." Bakura dodged, making up Ryou's mind for him.

"I don't know. I don't think he's moved though. I haven't spoken with him in ages." He lied. "He and I were never really good friends, thanks to you. He probably doesn't even trust me."

Bakura's hand grabbed Ryou's arm and pulled him so that they were only inches apart. "You are a terrible liar, Ryou." He hissed into his ear. "If I'm to have your trust, little Hikari, I need you to try to be truthful with me."

Silence. Ryou closed his mouth. He refused to say any more.

"Fine. Another time, then." Bakura said, releasing Ryou's arm. " My plan is flawless, but I'm not taking risks. You'd be wise to pick the right side, Hikari. Otherwise you might get hurt, and regardless of being my Hikari, I won't protect you if you're in the way." He shook his head. "It won't be long till my plan is set in motion Ryou. You should prepare yourself."

"Prepare for what?"

Bakura smiled. "You'll know…all in good time. I will reveal the pieces of the plan, as you need to know them. If you're a good Hikari, I may tell you the end result as well."

_I think I can guess that much_ Ryou thought silently, still curious about why Bakura needed him to take an active part in his plan. Or maybe he didn't, and it was all just to fool him. It wouldn't come as a surprise.

"It's time for you to go back to your world, Hikari." Bakura said, signaling the end of their conversation. "I'm in the recesses of your mind, and I'll be watching so don't think you can go warn Yugi without consequences." He warned.

Ryou looked around the black that surrounded them. "How…?" He said, gesturing to the nothingness.

Bakura smiled, a smile that looked _almost_ genuine, but once again it didn't reach his eyes. "Just trust me." He stepped up to Ryou, ignoring the way the teen flinched just barely. "Sleep, Ryou." He put two fingers to Ryou's forehead. The energy seemed to drain out of Ryou, leaving him impossibly tired for how alert he had just been. His legs couldn't support him anymore as black almost as dark as that around them clouded his mind. He fell forward; his eyes already closed, he barely felt himself be caught by the waiting arms of Bakura. The last thing he heard before falling into sleep was Bakura's voice saying softly into his ear, _Trust me. _

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_PLEASE REVIEW! _Reviews are the only payment I get for spending 10 hours on the computer (yes, that's how long this chapter took me) for your enjoyment. Please give me something, whether it be critiques or praise, to look forward to after writing. Next update coming soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Updates are hard to come by these days, and for that I sincerely apologize! I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me and review anyways. :) So...yeah, enjoy the chapter!

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Molten gold beams of light poured through Ryou's open window as the sun began its journey into the sky. It woke him as easily as any alarm. The night's surreal experience was the first thing he thought of, and the images of the Ring-Spirit were fresh in his mind. Pushing himself up in bed, he looked around his room. It was stuck in that gray and yellow pause of time between daylight and night, with rays of sun brightening everything they touched; yet causing dim shadows to be cast around the room. Ryou half expected a demon from his past to be watching him from the corner. But, to his relief, there wasn't. He felt normal, and realized that at some point during the night his headache had taken its leave.

It was a normal day of his normal life in normal Domino city, and he had a busy college-work-relaxation filled schedule ahead of him.

In fact…for how abnormal last night had been, today seemed almost _too _normal. That's when he laughed out loud. What was he thinking? Of course today wasn't _too _normal. Unless he was comparing reality to a nightmare, that is. It'd been a while, but dreams about the Ring-Spirit, _Bakura,_ had used to plague Ryou's nights all the time. Having a random reoccurring one in the midst of a few stressful days wasn't actually all that strange. The foolishness of his belief in a figment of his imagination was laughable, and he felt ridiculous for having believed it at all.

He got up and prepared for the day quickly, his mind stuck on his dream. The dream had been different in that generally when Bakura turned up in his dreams he was just an overhanging threat, or a voice as he'd been in reality. He'd never had a full-blown conversation with the demon, whether in dreams or in his real past.

Nevertheless, the dream dragged Ryou back to when the spirit of the Ring had been part of his life. That period of time that his own personal demon had dominated, overshadowing him, was a time he thought of as his own personal 'Dark Ages'. It had been miserable for him because of the constant confusion, the disappearances of his friends, or their ending up in comas, and Bakura had known it. He'd _enjoyed _it, as far as Ryou could tell. Probably because he'd had almost complete control thanks to the Millennium Ring, which Ryou hadn't been able to bet rid of regardless of how he tried. Bakura liked that, he guessed…Having control.

Because of the demon, Ryou's life had been frozen in a constant state of wariness and even fear. He feared for his friends, for his father, for the innocent people that he associated with, and for himself. He had blackouts for differing lengths of time. He'd been unconscious for almost an entire week during the Battle City Tournament, and for even longer than that when Yugi and the rest had gone to Egypt to unlock the Pharaoh's memories and Bakura had followed them.

For the longest time he hadn't even known that Bakura was the _cause_ of the blackouts. He'd only discovered it at Duelist Kingdom when Tristan and the others had informed him of his strange behavior and he hadn't been able to remember any of it. That was when he'd become suspicious. By the time his blackouts had escalated to days, even weeks at a time, he'd essentially figured the basics of everything out even though people would never actually tell him about it.

It occurred to him that despite the amount of time he'd been a prisoner in his own body—ever since he'd gotten the Ring at age ten—he'd never learned very much about Bakura. The Spirit was mostly a shrouded character of unknown motives and unjustified anger and hate. Ryou had learned more about him as a real being only from talking to Yugi, but the teen was reluctant to discuss Ryou's darker alter ego. After some digging, he had learned enough about his personality, though, (from his victims mostly) to know that he was ruthless and essentially insane.

Ryou honestly felt grateful that while Bakura had monopolized his life, he'd never chosen to make himself a _part _of it by including him in whatever plans he'd had in the past.

He figured that that was the reason the nightmare from that night had made such an impact on him, and had been so terrifying. It was, technically, his first time ever talking _directly_ to the spirit, regardless of the tiny detail that the spirit in his dream hadn't even been real. Of course the spirit had whispered to him through some sort of 'mind-link' during the time with him, but it hadn't been often, and that had been the extent of it. He'd never ever responded to the lies and harmful words meant to degrade him to nothing more than a submissive vessel. He'd, at first, assumed it was just a freak glitch in his head, and it was just a rendition of what he thought of himself. He didn't want people to tell him he was crazy, and that's what claiming he heard voices would get him. So he'd listened and believed the words intended to weaken his resolution. It had nearly worked before Bakura was finally destroyed in the past, or so Yugi had told him.

Ryou sighed, once again relieved that his dream was over, that it was a new day, and that his headaches were taking a break! For him, his life had started five months ago when the entire Egypt ordeal had reached its conclusion. When confusion and fear had been all he'd known, he'd barely been living. So this, _now_, was his life. Not then, and he was glad that the past was behind him. He had a smile on his face as he shoved books and folders into his brown schoolbag, adorned a light jacket, and began heading down the stairs.

He was just pulling his keys out to unlock his car when his cell phone rang. It was in his book bag. He didn't use it very often because he was usually at school or home. At home his home phone could reach him, and at school he refused to answer in the middle of class. He'd been considering getting rid of it because it was a monthly bill that he didn't necessarily need. He quickly pulled it out; surprised to see that it was Joey, he wondered what the teen could he possibly want with him?

He answered, curiosity evident in his voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ryou." Joey's loud voice called into the phone, and Ryou actually pulled the phone away from his ear slightly.

"Hi, Joey." He paused, and when Joey didn't say anything, he prompted, "Did you need something?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Yug just wanted me to call you, because his phone was dead, and ask you if you were coming to school today. Are you?"

"Of course. But why does Yugi-kun need to know?" Ryou asked, still confused.

Joey laughed. "Yugi just wanted to know if he should pick up your work for you. He said you were having some headaches or something. Good to hear you're okay though."

"Is Yugi with you now?"

"Yeah, he's here. We're just on campus." Joey explained

Ryou was surprised. "Isn't it a little early to be at school already?"

He could almost hear disbelief in Joey's voice, as though he was surprised to be at school so early too. "I wanted to work some more on my project about Egypt, and Yug agreed to help out. We needed the library." He said.

"Wow," Ryou commented as he opened the door to his car and slid inside, "You're really into this assignment aren't you?"

"Yeah" Joey said noncommittally, as though it were a bad thing. "Well, see you later. I'll tell Yugi you're okay." The phone clicked dead.

"How random." Ryou mumbled. Out of his friends, he and Joey were the least alike. They got along well enough, but the friendship was only really held together because of their mutual friend Yugi.

Ryou's car came to life with a slight stutter. It was a used car, a Hyundai, but it was still a relatively _new _used car. He pulled out and began driving to school.

He was about half way there when he got tired of the quiet and he reached over, only just taking his eyes off the road to turn on the radio. His good mood called for a little music.

That was when he passed out.

When he woke again, all he could remember was those last few moments driving. Not daring to open his eyes, he remembered clearly the cars around him, the road he'd been on, and he remembered looking down for just a few minutes to change the radio station. He was almost positive he was dead. How could he not be? He'd passed out in the process of _driving _along a busy road during morning traffic. Logically, he would be dead.

Taking a deep breath, he cracked his eyes open just barely. He was half expecting to see clouds and bright whiteness—indicating he'd made it to heaven—or fire and brimstone—indicating he hadn't. His deep brown eyes fell instead on the familiar image of a simple blue couch across from an old television. To the left was an open doorway leading to a kitchen. His kitchen. He sat up slightly, realizing he was lying on the floor in the middle of his living room.

He stood slowly, feeling a familiar dizziness. He'd used to feel it all the time because he'd used to black out all the time. Bakura's doing. It had been a common thing. But the clouded fogginess felt almost alien now. He looked around his apartment in confusion, wondering how he could have possibly gotten home. He _knew_ he'd been headed to school because he remember talking to Joey, speaking for Yugi who'd been wondering whether he'd be there or not.

Clearly there was no way that he could have ended up back home. He should have been flattened on the road, or in an ambulance at least…Unless…

"Oh no." Ryou mouthed silently, his mind returning to his unnatural dream from the night before; to the headaches; to his black out.

'I'm afraid I couldn't let you go and enjoy a day with Yugi. Especially not after you'd deluded yourself so completely into believing that I was a no more than a remnant of your past. You might've slipped up, and we don't want that.' Bakura's voice was clear inside his head, and Ryou was positive he wasn't dreaming this time.

It felt like Ryou had a hundred emotions fighting for dominance at once inside him. He was disappointed, a bitter sadness that permeated deep down. He was also angry and confused, wondering why this spirit couldn't just leave him alone, move on, _go away. _What was here that was so special, or so important, that Bakura wouldn't give up already? Why didn't he know when it was time to give up and quit? Couldn't he see that he had already been beat?

"Bakura." Ryou whispered, spitting the name out like it was contagious. He hated that the spirit had to share his name. _Their _name, Bakura, was a connection between them, and Ryou wanted nothing to do with it's owner. He took a step back and collapsed onto the couch, closing his eyes and feeling exhausted by the thought of how complicated his life was. "How?"

'I thought we took care of introductions during our last conversation.' Bakura stated impatiently.

"_How?"_ Ryou said, putting emphasis on the word.

'How what, Hikari? You know as well as I that I am able to possess your body at will.' His voice carried through his mind. At that moment, Ryou wanted nothing more than privacy in his own mind like he'd had just a few days ago. Was that so much to ask of someone?

"I knew that you could before." Ryou amended. "But that was because of the Millennium Ring. I was under the impression that you couldn't possess," he cringed at the word "me without it." Ryou knew he could've responded through thought instead of verbally addressing the spirit that, at the moment, existed solely in his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to open the mental walls between him and his other. He felt too exposed, like his thoughts were on display for Bakura to read.

Bakura laughed coldly in his head. 'As you said, that was before. I'm not so limited now. I have fewer restraints holding me within the confines of the Ring. You shouldn't concern yourself though. As I thought I'd made clear. I'd rather have you help me than make the effort to control your mind.'

Ryou bit his lip, wondering if it was wise to show an interest in _anything_ Bakura did, but still he said. "What changed? What happened to give you more control?"

'The Pharaoh.' The demon said, icy hate freezing over the title. 'When he was released from his prison, so was I. Of course, he was released into the after life, and he believed that my soul had been destroyed. He didn't know that I'd simply been sent to the Shadows. Again. In any case, because of his final departure, the Items were left _mostly _empty of shadow magic, making them empty and practically useless trinkets, and so I was released from my bondage within the Ring.'

Frowning, Ryou clarified, "So you _don't _need the Millennium Ring?"

Bakura appeared slowly to the side of him. Ryou was surprised to see that his form was faded; vague to the point that Ryou could see completely through him like a mirage or hologram. Almost like he didn't have the strength or energy to keep up a solid image. _Or maybe he just doesn't have the resources_, Ryou thought, thinking of the supposedly useless Millennium Ring. Maybe Bakura needed it more than he'd let on.

"The Ring is not a necessity." The Ring-Spirit said slowly. "But it will make accomplishing my task easier by far."

"And what exactly is your task, Bakura?"

"I'll tell you when you're less reluctant to my presence here."

"It was you that said we were working together." Ryou argued, and then admitted, "But I don't want any part of this, Koe. I never wanted to be part of it."

Bakura seemed put out by hearing the nickname Ryou had applied him at the first, when Bakura had started speaking to him in the beginning. Ryou had, of course, never responded. But he'd referred to him that way in his thoughts. At the time, Bakura had been nothing more than a disembodied voice in his head, never revealing himself in spirit form as he was now. And so, to Ryou, he'd just been _Koe_. Voice.

He brushed it away, pulling his composure back together. "You have two choices, Yadonushi." Ryou grimaced at Bakura's own nickname for _him_, meaning 'Landlord'. "They are work with me willingly, or be used. I don't care which you choose, but make yourself clear because I'm not going to put up with anything that makes accomplishing my goal more difficult."

Ryou sighed reluctantly. He was backed into a corner, forced to choose between two equally distasteful options.

On the one hand, he could agree to aid the Ring Spirit. This might include consequences against people, unknowing innocent people, that were bad to say the least. But aiding him might, probably, also involve harming his friends directly because of their association with the Pharaoh, Atem, and Ryou wasn't willing to hurt them. On the flip side, if he told Bakura right here and now that he refused… That would be the end of his 'life'. The friends would disappear, his life would become a broken puzzle, and he wouldn't know what he could trust and what was deceit. He'd be totally unable, totally helpless, to do _anything _at all. Either way it seemed he'd lose his friends in the end, but if he told Bakura that he'd help him he could at least be aware of what was going on and _try _to stall or protect Yugi and the others.

So what was the greater of two evils?

He needed to know what was going on, he decided. He had to be able to have even the smallest understanding of Bakura's plan. And, though he felt almost selfish for thinking it, regardless of the situation, he had to try and maintain a normal existence because if he went back to that half-life he'd had before, he knew he'd go insane, and that would be the end of it. He wouldn't just secede and hand his life over to Bakura.

Before he'd even said the words that would lock him into Bakura's aid, Ryou was beginning to feel guilty. How would he be able to face Yugi knowing that, just beneath the surface, he was hiding a sadist who wanted nothing less than essential world destruction? But he had to. It was better this way. He'd be able to warn Yugi…somehow…

"Well?" Bakura said, breaking Ryou out of his thoughts.

"I…" Ryou took a breath then let it out slowly. "I'll help you." Bakura just nodded, as though he'd known that Ryou would help him all along. Ryou frowned. "That doesn't mean that I'll do whatever you want." His voice had a slight edge to it, and Bakura's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar tone. "And…I won't hurt Yugi. Even if we aren't great friends, I won't destroy whatever trust I have earned back. So if you ask me to hurt him, I won't do it." He finished, hoping the tiny lies he'd put into his statement went through as truth. He looked at Bakura. He felt stronger for standing up to him, but now that he had he wondered if it had been a mistake. How would Bakura react to it?

There was silence. The demon was staring him down, analyzing him with a mind that always was working on ways to have the upper hand. The unnerving silence lasted so long that Ryou began to feel jittery. Finally Bakura said, "You've definitely grown, haven't you. No more weak, cowardly, submissive Hikari. Now I have a Hikari who tries to stand up for himself. Hopefully my Hikari will still know his place and understand that he _belongs to me, _no matter how much he's changed_._ And hopefully he realizes that there will be consequences for poor behavior."

"I told you I'd help…" Ryou said quietly. "I just don't want to hurt them."

Bakura laughed. "Well we will see, won't we? In the mean time you can divulge what you know about your friends, silly Yadonushi."

"I don't know very much, really. I don't hang out with Yugi often." Again, the lies came out smoothly, but Ryou wondered if they were really convincing enough to fool the Ring-Spirit.

The spirit's face settled into a demeaning smirk. "Anything helps." He said. "Why don't you try to remember? I know you must've seen them at least a bit, otherwise Wheeler wouldn't be calling you to ask about your health." The sarcasm was biting. Ryou's breath hissed out, remembering the phone call. It hadn't occurred to him that Bakura had been watching then as well.

"Well, I go to school and, of course they're there as well. But we really don't talk much. Or at all really." Ryou knew he sounded fake. His voice was too rushed, trying to compensate for his mistake and overcompensating instead.

"Of course." Bakura said.

The phone rang loudly. Once…twice… Ryou looked into the kitchen.

"I believe it's for you." Bakura said, smirk still in place. Ryou stood up from the couch. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon, so Bakura had taken over his body for at least a few hours, doing what he could only guess. Whatever it was, it hadn't been going to school and his friends would be wondering where he was. _Please, don't let it be Yugi…let it be someone else. Anyone else. _

He picked up the phone and brought it to his ear hesitantly. "Hello?" He said.

"Ryou!" Yugi's voice sprang out of the receiver. He sounded worried. Ryou glanced into the living room where Bakura stood, looking pleased. He grinned condescendingly.

Ryou ignored him, wishing Yugi had waited till after school to call him. "Hello, Yugi." He sighed.

"Joey told me you'd be in school today. He said you sounded fine when he talked to you on the phone." Yugi explained. "I was just wondering if you were alright?"

"I'm fine." Ryou said. "I just…something came up."

"Oh. Well, I picked up your work. What happened?" Yugi asked curiously.

Ryou wished he could just groan. Instead he said, "Oh, nothing too important. My car had some problems. It wouldn't start, and then I got a migraine, but it went away."

Yugi's voice was still concerned. "Najima-sensei isn't happy that you didn't show up this morning."

"He'll get over it." Ryou said. "The worst that happens, I need to retake the course. And that's a bit extreme. Besides, I told him I'd come by tomorrow, not this morning."

"Okay, well do you want me to bring your work by this afternoon? If you're doing better you could come to the Game Shop."

"No!" Ryou exclaimed, a little too quickly. "I mean I should catch up on what work I still have. And I don't want you to be inconvenienced. It's okay. I'll just pick it up tomorrow at school."

"Okay." Yugi said hesitantly, his voice curious over the line. "If you would rather do that. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He voiced it like a question.

"Yes, I'll be there tomorrow for sure." He threw another glance at Bakura. He'd intended it to be a hard look that would portray his firm standing on the subject. By Bakura's quiet, amused laugh, he assumed it hadn't come across that way.

"Okay. Oh, do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm sure my car will be fixed by then…"

"Okay then. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye." Ryou hung up.

"You were saying?" Bakura gloated. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say you _never_ spoke with Yugi anymore?"

"I said not very often." Ryou said weakly, leaning against the counter in the kitchen and not looking at the demon.

"I'll decide if your schooling is in our agenda." Bakura said suddenly, catching Ryou off-guard.

He raised his eyebrows. "Wait, what?" He protested. "I _have_ to go to school. I'm not going to ditch just because you don't think it's in our 'agenda', and I won't fail because of your schedule. I've already missed more school than I should."

Ryou took a few steps back as Bakura came into the kitchen. "Oh really?" The way Bakura stood framed against the bright, sunlit doorway into the kitchen seemed to make him darker. Though they were very nearly the same height, the spirit appeared to tower over Ryou, and he instinctively ducked his head slightly.

"I didn't ask for this." Ryou said again, softly, his sudden outburst an echo of his now quiet voice.

Bakura's voice was bitter as he said, "No one _asks _to have problems, Yadonushi. We don't ask for inexpedience. It just happens." His tone changed suddenly, and Ryou had a hard time telling if he was being serious, but it seemed his voice was almost…less harsh, maybe even, dare he even _think _the word friendly? "Of course if time allows, you're free to go to school with some restrictions. You will only continue your friendship with Yugi under certain…_restraints."_

"He and I aren't—" Ryou started to say.

"You can drop your charade, Hikari. We both know that you're lying to protect him. That will change sooner or later, but for now you don't need to maintain your act. As for the restraints though—"

"I think I can guess what they are." Ryou muttered, interrupting the spirit, and immediately dismissing Bakura's attempt at leniency. No matter what, he didn't think that his friendship with Yugi and the others would last long while Bakura was around. Especially if his plans involved world destruction, or something along those lines.

"Good. Then there's no need for me to explain it to you." The spirit's face was serious; his eyes narrowed at thoughts Ryou could only begin to guess at. But then he said, "If I'm not wrong, your school day is only half over and you have work today. You should get going if you want to get any of your classes in."

Ryou narrowed his eyes at his look-alike. Was he serious? But he did need to get at least some work in, so he asked, "Where are the keys?"

Bakura rolled his eyes slightly. "Your pocket." He said. Then he faded, disappearing from right in front of him. Ryou reached into the pocket of his jeans and, as the demon had said, there were his keys. As he left for the second time that day (though he couldn't even remember returning from the first time) he wondered how much difference Bakura was going to make in his life. What sort of plans did the Ring-Spirit have, and how dangerous for the unknowing people around him would they be? How much impact would he have, and how much damage would he cause? And how would the entire thing reflect on Ryou now that Bakura had dragged him into it?

With these thoughts in mind, Ryou couldn't help but wonder if he'd just made one of the worst mistakes of his life by agreeing to help him.

* * *

Once again, please Review! I truly appreciate them and they're what keep me writing. Thanks to all of those who do review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Well, I overshot my deadline a little bit, but I got it done!

* * *

Ryou scrubbed the crumb-covered table with more force than necessary, going over it with the dirty cloth until the glazed plastic reflected his face, fixed in a concentrated scowl. He straightened, wiping a smidgen of grease off his hands with the towel, and moved onto the next table.

He was trying to distract himself. Unfortunately it wasn't working. Too many things were buzzing around in his head like a hive of angry hornets. Of course there was the simple fact that Bakura was now monitoring his every move. The very matter of his return was enough to put Ryou on edge, but he could feel the demon watching him from within his own mind, gently influencing his thoughts with his very essence. And then there was Yugi. Ryou could hardly stand to even think about the teen, knowing how he could be putting him at risk. But even that wasn't the cause of his uneasiness.

Something else was wrong. After his conversation with the Ring-Spirit, Ryou had realized something. Bakura felt _darker_. The presence in his mind was different from before. It felt like Bakura had changed. He could feel him—a dark spot in his consciousness that he couldn't enter, but could see with his mind's eye clearly. That dark spot in his mind, strangely, intimidated Ryou for a reason he couldn't figure out. No matter how he considered that dark area that could only be Bakura's soul, it didn't make sense. Bakura was a mystery.

"Bakura-kun," a light voice called. He looked up from the table he'd scrubbed at least four times, dragged from his personal musings. Lily Mitsu, one of his co-workers, was over two tables with a tub that was nearly overflowing with dirty dishes. She was just slightly younger than him and usually worked the register, but today she was on dish duty. "Could you help me, please?" she said, forcing a smile, but her arms were quivering with the weight of the tub.

Rushing over, he took the tub from her. "Sorry," She apologized, wiping her brow. "I didn't know how heavy it was going to be until I picked it up and tried to walk away." Her laugh was happy. With Ryou's darkened state of mind, it felt out of place.

"No, it's fine." He assured her absent-mindedly. He took the dishes back into the kitchen, Lily following him.

"I really hate dish duty, don't you?" She asked Ryou, helping him transfer the plates into the sink and then began scrubbing them in the soapy water. Ryou nodded, but didn't answer, having been sucked back into his own thoughts. Suddenly Lily slapped the water playfully, splashing it onto Ryou. "Earth to Bakura-kun. Are you tired, or what?" She laughed, pushing her black hair out of her face with wet hands.

"Sorry, Mitsu-san. I'm tired, and I guess I was distracted by a school paper that's due tomorrow." He said, smiling as honestly as he could despite the lie. It wasn't a _complete _lie after all. He did have a school paper.

"I think you work too hard, you know?" She said, putting a pile of plates away.

Ryou rolled his eyes, but smiled. "So I've been told. One of my friends always tells me to take a break." He sighed, "But I just can't seem to find the time to take a break. Life is just too confusing."

She nodded. "Sometimes I just want to take a step back from the here and now, let myself breath."

"Bakura-san, I need you to clean up at table 3!" Another co-worker's voice called from the front.

He nodded to Lily, leaving her to the dishes. "Hey, 'Kura-kun!" He turned to look at her. "You should smile. It's easier to take things on if you're optimistic." She smiled a wide cheesy smile for emphasis. Ryou couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll work on that." He told her, and then went to clean up tables, leaving the perky girl to her own work, the frown returning to his face. How could anyone be so happy when it felt like the world was on the brink of ending? How could he be the only one who knew about the threat looming on the horizon; the only one who wasn't completely oblivious to the danger the whole planet could be in? It was unbelievably frustrating.

Though it seemed to have passed far too quickly, Ryou's shift was soon over. He walked out to his car in the dimming daylight, thinking of the make-up work he'd have for his classes. It was piling up in a lovely mountain on his kitchen table. Books to read, reports to write, research papers to critique. His personal estimation for how much he'd get done? None. He was simply too distracted by everything else. In fact, school seemed to be the last thing on his mind, becoming ever more insignificant in the grand scheme of Bakura's convoluted plans. He wished that school was the strong point of his life at the moment; the thing that would occupy his attention and his time. He never seemed to get a choice, though.

_Why is that_? He thought to himself as he drove home. _Why don't I ever get a choice? _He sighed. Of course he didn't get a choice. Of course his life, though he lived it alone, wouldn't be his to control. It was a cruel irony that, though he'd chosen a solitary life to let his father work (something that should've, hypothetically, given him more freedom), he would end up bound to something inhuman that gave him less freedom than ever before.

_Irony and injustice, _Ryou thought in mild annoyance, _the two laws that govern my entire life. _Because if life were just then _he _would be the one making decisions, not Bakura. After all, it was his body. He'd been living in this time longer, even if his soul was younger than Bakura's. Bakura was the intruder, the parasite. It seemed that if life were fair, the demon would depend on Ryou, and Ryou would get more say in what happened concerning _his_ life.

But life just wasn't fair.

And Ryou knew that he'd do nothing about it, not really. It was who he was. Passive; he liked to let things be, unless it was necessary that he step in and interfere. Maybe that was why he never got a choice, because he never took the initiative to make one. He knew, somewhere in his mind, that his time of being passive was going to come to an end. If he remained passive, Bakura would succeed ultimately.

Ryou pulled into a four-way stop. He had his right blinker on, ready to turn and head home. Yugi's house was to the left. The teen had said he had homework for Ryou, and offered to let him come by to pick it up. Bakura had been there, watching, so he'd declined…but he really did need the work. He was behind as it was. There would be no harm in just going to get the papers, then leaving. Ryou flipped his blinker so that it was showing left, and moments later turned.

He parked along the curb outside the shop, and went inside. Yugi came down the stairs immediately as he walked in the door, responding to the little bell attached to the entryway. He looked surprised to see Ryou.

"Hey, Ryou, I thought you couldn't come over." He said, walking down the rest of the stairs more slowly.

"I was driving home from my shift and figured I'd come get my work since I was already out." Ryou explained. "I'm behind as it is."

"Sure thing." Yugi said, trekking back up the stairs. From the top he called down, "You can come up if you want. I have your work in my room."

Ryou followed him up, looking around. As many times as he'd come to the game shop, he'd never seen past the little store at the front. Whenever he'd hung out with the gang, they'd gone out somewhere or had their parties at Joey's because he had a big screen television.

The living area was simple. There was a small open kitchen to the right of the stairs after the landing. To the left was a sitting room with some couches, a coffee table, and a small TV. The carpet was a light green that clashed with peachy tangerine painted walls. Yugi was in a room just off of that.

Ryou walked in. The walls were covered in posters of everything from duel monsters to Yugi's favorite music band. A desk was cluttered with a mess of papers, notebooks, and a large bulky computer (Ryou was suddenly grateful for his portable laptop). Yugi was dumping out a black backpack onto his bed, rifling through the papers and notes to find the ones he needed to give to Ryou.

"These were pretty simple." He explained, looking at some as he brought them to his friend. "You just need to read over the paper, do a summary and come up with and answer five questions pertaining to the topic in essay form. You'll probably be able to finish that up by the time you go to sleep tonight!" He joked. Remembering something, he hopped back over to his bed where the papers were lying in scattered disarray. "There was also some bookwork for Advanced World Civilizations…" He mumbled, picking up all the papers and returning to where Ryou stood by the door.

"Ah, here they are." Yugi pulled out a large packet of buff-colored papers. Something tumbled to the floor. Ryou bent down and picked it up.

It was a small silver cartouche pendant hung on a silver chain. Egyptian Hieroglyphs were etched into it, spelling a name. Ryou handed it to Yugi. "You dropped this."

"Thanks, Ryou." Yugi said in surprise, taking it quickly and clutching it in his hand. "I guess I forgot to put it back on after I went to my Chemistry class… I didn't want it to get dirty or anything with the labs." He said.

"What does it say?" Ryou asked, looking at the glimmering cartouche clutched in the short teen's hand.

Yugi hesitated slightly. "Well…" He began. "You weren't there, but in Ancient Egypt the only way the Other Me could defeat the demon, Zork, was to use some sort of key to lock the magic away." He said. Ryou's insides went cold. He sucked in a quick breath. Why couldn't he get away from all of the chaos surrounding Bakura for even an hour? Ryou realized that he couldn't let Yugi explain more.

Maybe Bakura already knew about this key that had supposedly locked the magic away, but _if_ he hadn't then Ryou might be practically giving him the answers he may need to bring about his goals (which, so he'd established from Yugi's rendition of the events in the past, were bringing the world into shadow). If there was a chance that Bakura didn't know about whatever Yugi was about to say, then Ryou had to keep it that way, and he couldn't keep the secret safe, not even in his mind.

"We discovered that the key was actually his real name. When we found out what it was, we put it on the cartouche so he'd never forget again." Yugi continued.

"Wow, Yugi, I didn't know." Ryou interrupted quickly, trying not to sound too rushed. "You're lucky, you know." He said, casually shifting the subject a margin. "It seems like the Pharaoh was a great friend."

Yugi looked down, a hint of sadness tracing his young features. "He was." He agreed. "I know that it's completely different, but do you ever miss your Other?" He shook his head. "I don't mean _him_, but just having someone there? Do you ever feel…empty?" Yugi asked cautiously.

Ryou frowned, regretting this twist in the conversation. Yugi rarely talked about how much he missed the Puzzle-spirit that he'd harbored throughout high school, except for occasionally when he'd mention it to Ryou. Though the teen hid it well, he missed the spirit of the Pharaoh and constantly mentioned how he shouldn't have won the last duel. He found Ryou to be someone he felt comfortable talking to, even though his other friends had been much more prominent in all the dealings of the Pharaoh. Ryou was the one person who could understand in any amount what that was like personally though, and so Yugi looked to him as someone with whom he could relate. Ryou _knew_ that Yugi missed that Pharaoh, but he was at a loss as to what Yugi was looking for in him. Did he want him to agree, claim that he had missed the Ring-Spirit? Of course it was hard to give up such a close friend, but he and Bakura had _never_ been close, so why did Yugi continue to think that Ryou would feel like he did?

"No." Ryou said softly. "I don't miss it at all. I only wish that I'd never had to deal with it in the first place." _I wish I didn't have to deal with it now_ he added silently.

Yugi sighed. "Sorry, Ryou, I know you don't like it when I bring _Him _up. It's just, Joey and Tristan don't understand as much as you."

"In some regards..." Ryou said. "They were there though, in Egypt. And they were friends with your Other too. Maybe they understand more than you think." Ryou improvised an 'understanding' response, trying to find a way to end the conversation. "Thank you for getting my work for me, but I should get home and actually work on it."

Yugi nodded, looking unsatisfied with the way the conversation had closed. His sad face made Ryou groan internally. He was already betraying Yugi in front of his nose, how could he leave him as disappointed as he was too?

"We'll talk about this again later, okay?" Ryou assured with a sigh, knowing it wouldn't happen. He _had _to avoid talking about anything related to the Pharaoh and Bakura now that the spirit himself was an ever-present witness to everything Ryou did.

Yugi nodded again. "Okay. Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He took him downstairs and Ryou walked out the door after saying goodbye.

Ryou drove the long way home to give himself more time to think, but the drive was over before he'd even managed to organize his thoughts. He went inside slowly, hoping that Bakura would choose to stay to himself for the rest of the evening. Going into the kitchen, he added the new assignments he'd just been given to the large pile of texts and papers decorating his table and sat down in front of the whole mess. It was hard to believe that the entire mountain before him was just the work of a few missed days.

_I should get started _he thought, but just sat there staring at it. How could he concentrate on college schoolwork? Ryou gritted his teeth, grabbing the packets closest to him and delving into the topic. He would _not_ fail college because of Bakura.

Ryou got about three quarters of the way through the pile, finishing up all the work for at least half of his classes, when he finally put his pen down and leaned back. He'd been working for a good three hours on all the work, and it was now 11:30.

He was glad that he'd managed to focus on the work for a while. Maybe now he could feasibly begin to get caught up for the last couple days for his erratic attendance. Shuffling sleepily back to his room, he dragged himself into bed without bothering to dress down into more suitable clothes for sleeping. He was just too tired. Surprisingly, he was asleep in moments.

The morning arrived too quickly. Time itself seemed to being on a fast track. Ryou had to listen to his alarm scream into his ears for five minutes before he finally couldn't handle the annoying buzzer and got up to turn it off. He started and finished his morning routine (right down to his customary toast and milk breakfast) faster than normal. He still had thirty minutes before he needed to be off to school and so he logged onto his computer to check his emails.

Most of it was junk; forwards, advertisements, college offers that were pointless since he was already enrolled filled the screen. He had a few messages from a group that he was doing a combined project with, but skimmed over it and decided to bet back on it later. He also had a message from Tea, to his surprise. It was a simple message, asking how he was doing, wondering if Yugi had gotten a new phone number because she couldn't get a hold of him, and explaining about her dancing. Ryou forwarded the message to Joey, Yugi, and Tristan, and then went back to his inbox. The last message also surprised him. It was a message from his father.

Usually it took at least a week, generally two, for his father to even bother with answering his son's messages. This one had only taken two days. He opened it, intrigued.

_You've probably never gotten a reply this soon have you, Ryou?_ The message began, addressing Ryou's thoughts. _I just _had_ to tell you though. We moved to the new site only _just _after I sent you that message. It was literally only a few hours. Apparently the head of the board wanted my team over there as soon as possible. Of course I was a bit disappointed to be leaving the tomb we were working on so close to a discovery, but this new site they've got on this island looks like it could date back to some of the first Pharaoh's of Egypt! Perhaps even the _Nameless _Pharaoh. They think it might've been some sort of Ritual chamber from what they've uncovered. In any case, we got over there as fast as possible. We're digging, and you'll never guess what we found. It's a surprise, so you'll have to wait. I want a reply as soon as you get it!_

_From, Dad_

Ryou could tell from the writing that his father was very excited. He could imagine his father, sitting at a computer in a desert, typing away to tell someone all about his life's passion. His father just loved the thrill of discovery, of finding something new from something old. He loved the past. In fact, he loved it so much it had drawn him away from his family when Ryou was so young he could hardly remember, coming to visit only for holidays. Since his mother and sister had passed away he'd even stopped coming for those. As enwrapped in his work as Sean Bakura was, all he had time for was emails and the occasional phone call. But despite that, Ryou knew that his father still cared about him, and he loved to tell all about his projects to him. Something about the message stood out to Ryou. He read through it again.

_Perhaps even the _Nameless _Pharaoh…_ Ryou bit his lip as he reread the words. He tapped his fingers thoughtfully. It hadn't really occurred to him that other people knew about Atem. True, he'd been a Pharaoh in Egypt, but record of him was sparse. Practically nonexistent, in fact, other than his tomb and some records, like the Memory Tablets, that mentioned him. After all, he'd been Pharaoh for only a week at best.

What a coincidence that evidence of Atem, a figure from another time that was almost considered a myth, would turn up in Sean's findings. Especially since Bakura had returned not two days ago. Even now his father was at this new site investigating this ritual chamber dedicated to the 'Nameless Pharaoh' (who actually wasn't Nameless anymore), and Ryou had some ideas as to what sort of things his father had found and was sending to him. When it was put together, it became too precise to be coincidence. It was like all the little details were falling into place, and as that happened, the demon's plan would gain momentum until it was practically inevitable. Ryou had to stall.

He pressed reply and began typing quickly.

_Please, father, don't bother sending me gifts. I have too many already! I'm sure that whatever you've found would be better off in a museum. They'd probably—_

He paused, then discarded the message and shut off his computer. What was the point? His father had probably already put whatever it was—in all likelihood it was the Ring—in the mail and it was on its way. He rubbed his temples, trying to rub the stress away if only for five minutes. He sat up straight and closed his laptop, pushing it into his school bag. He still had time before he needed to be off though, so in the mean time, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

_Dear Amane, _he began writing.

_It's when I'm stressed that I miss you all the more, you know. You don't know how lucky you are to not have to be involved in all this…It doesn't make me wish you were here any less though. I don't know what to do. I'm so confused and even though I know that there are people all around, I feel completely alone. I'm sure you never felt like that. Everyone always loved you best. But none of it matters now, because even though everything seems calm…It's like there's a storm coming. It's silly for me to be so panicked. Nothing has even happened yet, but I just… I can't even explain how it feels to be caught up in this. _

Ryou smiled slightly and wrote, _If you happen to see any Ancient Pharaohs wherever you are, tell them that Earth could really use their help. _He paused. It had been a few months since he'd written a letter to Amane. It had become something he did as a stress-reliever rather than a way to try and stay connected to her. He didn't bother sending them to her grave (which was in England) because of the hassle, and so any letters, like this one, that he did happen to randomly write went to one of two places. A folder filled with copies of letters he'd sent in the past, or the trash can.

He supposed it was because he'd finally gotten over her death, but had he really? Honestly, he couldn't say for sure. Amane had been one of the most prominent people in his life, even though she'd only been alive until he was ten. She'd been his best friend, rather then just his sister, but he found that as more time passed he was beginning to forget her. It bothered him, but all memories faded so he didn't worry about it. Still, he wished that he still harbored that childish belief that she was always with him, always _would_ be with him.

Walking back down the hall to his room, Ryou rummaged through his desk drawer until he found what he was looking for. A small, fading, slightly crumpled picture. Smiling out at him was his bright eyed sister. Amane's hair, a rippling wave of platinum gold (just like his mother's) was blowing in an unseen wind that rushed through the hilly park where the picture had been taken. _She's so young_ Ryou thought, looking at her seven-year old image, and suddenly he felt so much older then his 19 years.

He put the picture in his pocket, glancing at his watch as he did. "Oh, crap!" He cried out in surprise. He would be late, again, for his classes. He snatched his bag from the back of the kitchen chair, lugging it onto his back, and went outside.

Pressing the gas down in his car, exceeding the speed limit as much as he dared, he made up enough time and was only five minutes late for class rather than fifteen. The professor gave him an irritated glance as he came in, but didn't bother to comment. His usual seat was taken, so he trekked up the amphitheater-like room's stairs to the back of the class.

Ryou took out his laptop and began typing up anything that seemed like it would be important to know for his notes. Class passed quickly, and immediately after Ryou went to talk to the teacher.

"I apologize for my absences this week, Najima-sensei." He stated politely, his voice sincere.

"I don't appreciate time being wasted. You waste my time, and yours, when you sign up for my class and then don't attend." His professor said sternly, stacking some large packets in an orderly form on his large desk.

"Yes, and I'm sorry that I've not been able to make it. I've had some medical issues come up." Ryou pressed. "Are there any notes that I can get for the days I missed, Sensei?"

Najima-sensei blew out a breath, rubbing his black beard. "I don't generally give out notes to my students. I expect promptness in my class, but…" He paused, eying Ryou. "Because you've tended to be an attentive student I'll let you off on this." He handed a few sheets of hand written notes to Ryou. The teen nodded his gratitude.

"Thank you." He said as he exited. He quickly walked across the campus to his next class, Advanced World Civilizations, a course he was taking with Yugi. Where normally he would've brightened at the prospect of seeing his friend, today it made him cringe. Seeing Yugi would only remind Ryou of the Ring-Spirit, and Ryou would once again be drowned in a tsunami of guilt.

'_I find Guilt to be a rather pointless emotion.' _Stated a casual voice.

Ryou clutched his bag tighter in his hand. _'May I please get through one day without your comments?' _He thought at Bakura slowly, ever cautious. Bakura didn't answer, so Ryou assumed that either he was listening, or maybe he hadn't heard him. Ryou hated putting down the mental walls between them because of how exposed it left him, so he decided to go with the former and believe that Bakura was actually showing a hint of respect (which alone was enough to make Ryou wonder if the Shadow Realm hadn't done something to Bakura's personality.)

"Ryou, over here." Yugi's voice called quietly as Ryou entered his classroom. Ryou put on a smile, trying to put a lid on his welled up guilt.

"Hey Yugi…"

* * *

Bakura watched through Ryou's eyes, scanned over his thoughts, analyzed his reactions. He had nothing better to do, since his plan was at a temporary standstill.

_My Yadonushi is all over the place. He's over magnifying a small matter until it's consumed him. _He thought in amused satisfaction. His Host's stress would no doubt keep him occupied for a while at least; long enough for things to settle into motion on their path. The path would, of course, end in Zorc manifesting to claim his right to Earth, and would send this mortal realm crashing headlong into the Shadows. Ryou's stress would distract him long enough for Bakura to have everything planned; everything ready.

But first…he needed the Ring. The Millennium Ring was actually of quite significant importance, though not for the reasons Ryou might believe. The same went for the _other _Item that would arrive with the Ring. With them, Bakura would be able to allow Zorc a pathway into Earth. The demon frowned. There was something else missing as well. It was something that had been lost with the passing of the Pharaoh, and now it had to be recovered. It was still in existence, or the Shadows would have nothing holding them at bay. The problem was simply finding it. Bakura had no doubts that it would turn up. Fate dictated that he would finally succeed and accomplish his ultimate goal.

Bakura smirked. His entire plan was so simple it was almost laughable, and yet it would cause the world to fall into darkness. How amusing. And in its entirety, this plan was better than his first plan. Using the past to divert the course of the future had been ingenious, yes, but it had also been elaborate. It was easy to miss the small things, the little details. With only two truly essential pieces to the plan, it would be simplicity itself to succeed.

Bakura walked casually down the mental representation of his Host's mind, occasionally listening in on thoughts of Ryou's that interested him, but his mind wasn't on his Host. What would it be like to win, finally, after so much time? He'd tasted victory before. He'd been so close that it had been_ his_ before the Pharaoh and his bratty friends had ruined things.

A black wall stood in Bakura's path through Ryou's mind. What the child described to himself as a dark feeling in his mind, which he'd falsely misinterpreted as Bakura's soul, to Bakura was represented as a massive black wall that cut off a small portion of his Host's mind, blocking it from even him. Shadows seemed to emit from the wall, flowing off it in great violet-black waves of mist that crashed slowly down the mental corridors. In the midst of the pitch black was a silver door. The door had no handles, no hinges, and no true indications of it leading anywhere. In fact, it couldn't really be considered a door; it was more of a small door-shaped piece of glimmering silver in the wall.

Behind the wall was Zorc's territory. Behind that black monolith was a creature, growing stronger every moment, which was capable of unimaginable destruction. Bakura brushed his fingers along the wall, stirring up the mist that seemed to curl around him like a living thing. Zorc was growing stronger, far faster than Bakura had anticipated. He would have to hurry and accomplish what needed to be done before the Zorc was fully transferred from the Shadow Realm into his mortal vessel.

Despite this, Bakura was not concerned. Zorc joining him in Ryou's mind was actually far better than Bakura had thought it would be. He'd cut an entire step from his plan. It was a difficult thing to pull objects as massive and powerful as Zorc from the Shadow Realm. This arrangement made things far less complicated, in the end. Bakura was surprised the idea hadn't occurred to him.

He smirked and turned away from the unending wall. _Soon_ Bakura thought _Very soon. _

* * *

Hopefully my next update will be "Very soon.", ne?

Author Note: For those wondering why Ryou's mind isn't overwhelmed by Zorc and Bakura instead of simple stress, here's the reason. Human beings only use approximately 10 percent of their brain. Well, that leaves 90 percent of unused mind space for Zorc and Bakura. Problem solved!

Review Plea: Please Review so I know what was good/bad/etc. about this chapter. Critiques are welcome, but so are praises. REVIEW PLEASE!


	7. Chapter 7

I swear that every time I update its a miracle! :) Well, I hope that you enjoy the chapter regardless of how long it took me to get it up!

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Ryou was a wreck. Classes were miserable. He was rubbing his eyes, shaking his head slightly, in an attempt to even stay awake. He jumped at his name, flinching when someone walked up behind him. Every time he saw Yugi, he thought of Bakura, and the end of the world, and became more strung up then before.

It felt just like High School all over again. And the worst of it was it had only been a single week.

Yet, even though it had been a week since the Ring-Spirit's return, nothing seemed to have changed. Everything was just…normal. This was a large part of the reason for Ryou's scattered state of mind, oddly enough. Every day that passed without a word from Bakura made Ryou more panicked than before. It felt wrong, despite that Bakura had rarely spoken to him the first time either. But if they were supposedly 'working together', what was the spirit waiting for? Why didn't he do something, or at least _say_ _something _to Ryou? Most importantly, how could Ryou ever even begin to think of stopping Bakura when he didn't have the slightest idea of what the demon was planning!?

In addition to all this, his headaches refused to leave him. The headaches were robbing him of sleep and concentration, forcing him to take multiple painkillers that actually did nothing to ease the pain in his throbbing skull. Bakura wouldn't speak to him, ignoring all Ryou's plaintive questions about if it was his fault it felt like his brain was being pounded with a hammer every day. So Ryou was forced to accept that he was just suffering stress-related migraines, which wasn't all that surprising considering how stressed he had been during the past few weeks.

As the days passed and he continued attending his classes, each day feeling less coherent then before, people asked him if he was alright. He nodded, smiled as happily as he could manage, and assured them that he was fine, only that school mid-terms had him stressed. They, in turn, smiled, and didn't have another thought about it. Ryou was grateful for that. He couldn't uphold his false smiles for more than a few minutes at a time before something more sinister crept into his thoughts, replacing a frown where the happy smile had been.

Only Yugi had noticed that all was not well with Ryou, but the teen had been avoiding the duelist with a dedication that surprised even him. The fact of the matter was Ryou dreaded seeing Yugi. It became more unbearable as everything (Bakura, the 'gifts' on their way from Egypt, the darkness growing in his mind) sank in further and further, depressing Ryou more than ever since he'd been seventeen. Seeing Yugi brought back memories from his years in Domino High, making things worse rather than better when he asked if Ryou was alright with friendly concern.

It was after school on one of these days that found Ryou sulking in the shadows of his tiny apartment, staring at the nondescript carpet. He'd finally managed to get caught up on all of his school work, and though he knew he should be studying for mid-terms (which were just weeks away), he really felt he just needed a break. He could hardly explain the reasons for his stress, but he knew that he needed to push them aside for awhile. So he sat there on his couch, awaiting patiently the headache he could feel like a gentle pressure on his brain. They tended to come at least once a day, sometimes twice. They were inevitable, Ryou had discovered, and painkillers did nothing to prevent or stop them, so he'd given up on those too.

He sighed forlornly. He knew that he was acting pathetic, like a spoiled child who didn't want to take care of his responsibilities, who wanted nothing more than to sit in a blissful paradise while the rest of the world dealt with its own problems. Moping would do nothing. Not for him, certainly not for anyone else.

"So do something about it." Ryou said to himself, his voice soft but demanding. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and _do_ something." But he sat there and did nothing, listening to the silent reply the walls around him delivered. Shaking his head, he muttered quietly to himself, "Just like old times, Bakura."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, then a stream of emotion—like amusement, but not—trickled through him, leaving a slight grin on his lips, and then disappeared as rapidly. Ryou blinked, shocked at the foreign feeling. It didn't belong to him; that much he was sure of.

It was Bakura's, and it meant that their unexplained 'connection' was growing stronger.

In high school (before he'd known about Bakura with a surety), whenever Ryou had laid eyes upon the Puzzle he'd felt a thrill, an anticipation, that left him breathless. Then, too, Bakura and his own minds had been strongly connected even though Ryou hadn't known it. He'd known, in a way, that the feelings hadn't belonged to him, but there wasn't really another explanation. He'd attributed it to his father's archeological expeditions. Bringing home interesting trinkets much like the Puzzle all the time, Ryou had grown attached to ancient relics that his father brought him…like his Ring.

Like the one that would be on its way. How close was it now? A day? An hour? Perhaps the mail deliverer was dropping it off right then.

_You're whining again_ he reprimanded himself. Taking a deep breath he stood up. That was when the doorbell rang. Ryou's heart leaped into his throat in surprise, and he waited there for a minute to see if, hopefully, whoever it was would just go away. The bell rang again, and was followed by a swift rapping on the door.

Ryou walked through his kitchen to the front door, peering through the tiny peephole to see who it was. It was a man, dressed in casual clothing with a nametag pinned to his shirt, but Ryou couldn't see what it said. In his hands he held a clipboard, tapping it impatiently against a large box at his feet. Ryou moaned quietly then yanked the door open.

"Can I help you?" Ryou asked brusquely.

"I have a _Fast Track_ delivery for a Ryou Bakura, which is you, I presume?" The man said with a forced cheerfulness that reminded Ryou of flight attendants who always had cheesy grins plastered to their faces.

"Yeah." Ryou said hollowly. "From Egypt, right?" He said, gesturing vaguely at the box.

"Um, yep, looks like it." The man said, looking at the clipboard. "Now I just need to you sign this." He shoved the clipboard at Ryou. Hesitantly he signed his name on the lines. _It's like signing away my freedom._ He thought grimly. _Or maybe my death warrant_.

"Alright!" The man picked up the box and shoved it into Ryou's hands, taking the clipboard simultaneously. "It's all yours."

Ryou sighed. "Thank you." He told the delivery man politely.

"Oh, hold on. I was told to deliver this with the box." He pulled a tiny folded paper out of his pocket and flicked it to Ryou, who caught it in one hand. "Enjoy!" The man called, and then he got into his truck and was gone.

As Ryou took the box back into his living room, it seemed like the shadows that filled the corners of the room grew. Like they were reaching out to devour him. He ignored the strange sensation, and put the box down on the floor. Quickly, he walked to the other side of the room and sat down on the couch. He didn't want to be near that _thing_ that was inside the box.

Unfolding the note, he read it quickly.

_Son, I just wanted to let you know that these items took a lot, and I do mean _a lot_ of bribing to keep away from the Museum. They're genuine. 1000's of years old, in fact. Its just kudos that this Sennen Ring happens to be an identical to the first one I gave you. I'm sure you'll have fun trying to translate some of the stuff out of the _other_ gift as well. All I want to say is, I hope you enjoy these as much as I would._

Ryou folded it back up and threw it across the room. _How?_ he wondered. How was this possible? That his own father would be the one to send the Millennium Ring to him. Despite the fact that it wasn't his father's fault, Ryou couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Of course he hadn't known what he was doing, sending the Millennium Ring. It was just a gift to a son he never saw. He didn't know the effect of the Ring on his son. In fact, he probably thought Ryou would be thrilled. And if it were any _other_ artifact, Ryou probably would be.

This meant that things were gathering momentum. Bakura had told him the Ring would come, and here it was. It could be assumed that this also meant that Ryou was going to become a slave to his own mind again. A prisoner within his own body. What was the Ring except for a set of pretty shackles? Bakura…would he give Ryou any peace now that he had his favored tool back? Or perhaps nothing would change. Ryou would simply be used again.

Bakura had told him that he needed his help, Ryou reminded himself. He'd specifically stated that he didn't need the use of his body _if_ Ryou cooperated. And yet, who was to say that Bakura wouldn't change his mind? Who was to say that the demon hadn't been lying in the first place? With the help of the Millennium Ring, Bakura could take over Ryou's body for days, weeks. Of course, he'd proven he could take over without its help, but Ryou thought that Bakura was weaker without it. If Bakura chose to use Ryou's body as his own, Ryou's life was going to begin to deteriorate again.

It already was.

Ryou couldn't help but admit that his own stress, his own inability to _deal _with stress, was causing more pain to himself than Bakura had at all since he'd returned. But that was going to get a whole lot worse if the Ring became Bakura's way of getting Ryou's 'help'.

"What if it goes back to the way it was before?" Ryou wondered out loud. He looked down at his hands, realizing they were trembling slightly. Old memories lingered…memories of the fear, and the confusion. Never knowing if he'd hurt someone, or stolen something. Not knowing where he would be when he woke up next. Memories like a broken puzzle, like a shattered mirror. A broken, distorted child. And who could he tell then? Who would understand? How could he explain that the one doing all these heinous acts wasn't even him, but a demon that took over his body? How could he call himself innocent? How, when he wasn't even sure that he was? The point was that he was still afraid of the parasite inside of him. But he wouldn't let that fear paralyze him like he'd let it in the past. He was done being a frightened little child.

_I'm just one person, though_. He thought despondently. _And I don't even know what Bakura is planning. _The spirit hadn't revealed anything to him. He obviously didn't trust Ryou. But he had said something when they had first met. Again Ryou's mind went to their first conversation.

'_I need your help.' _Those were the words, they'd come out of _his _mouth. Truth or lies, there was no way to tell for sure. And then again, that was _before_ the Millennium Ring had arrived on his doorstep. Did he truly still need Ryou's help? If he did, then that could give him an advantage. Withholding his aid from Bakura could give him some sort of leverage…or it could get him a permanent residence within his Soul Room. Was it worth the risk? If it would give him a foothold, then yes.

But then again, what good would he be if he ended up trapped in the corridors of his mind? Ryou was pacing now, walking back and forth across the carpet, yet still avoiding the box on the floor. Suddenly he stopped. His eyes were burning with frustration.

"I'm just one person!" He said loudly to the ceiling. Then he collapsed onto his couch again, staring at the box like it was a venomous snake. He wondered vaguely why Bakura _still_ hadn't made an appearance, if for no other reason than to oversee and ensure that Ryou actually accepted the Ring. For all the demon knew, perhaps Ryou would just take it over to the museum; they'd be happy to have it. Or throw it away, take it to the dump. Maybe he would give away as a gift. He could give it to Yugi.

Yugi… Yugi was a friend to him, and Ryou knew that the boy's nature would have him listen to Ryou, and help him. That is if Ryou was able to ask for help. Who was to say he couldn't. Bakura _would not_ be his master again. One phone call, a simple conversation—only a few words need be exchanged for the message to be delivered. He didn't have to be alone in this.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, praying Bakura was not paying attention. Scrolling through his contacts, he found Yugi's cell number. Without hesitation he pressed 'call'. And it began to ring.

The phone rang and rang, and then went to an answering machine, but Ryou couldn't give up yet. He pressed redial, silently begging Yugi to pick up. He finally had even the smallest of ideas, he just needed this to work. Suddenly a hand that, although transparent, still gave the very strong impression of being solid flesh and bone, gripped his arm. The touch was like ice, as though the hand had just been held inside a freezer. It seemed to steal the warmth from his skin. Ryou flinched, but didn't look up. He didn't shiver, or allow any sort of fear to become evident on his face. He wasn't going to give into Bakura so easily.

"Hang up…Now." A razor-edged voice demanded.

Just then, the phone clicked and a lighthearted, "Hello?" could be heard. Ryou pressed the 'End Call' button and dropped the phone onto the couch beside him.

"Let go of me." He said emotionlessly, trying to withhold his natural instinct to shy away from the unnatural being beside him.

"You disappoint me, Yadonushi." A chuckle, as though the demon found this all to be amusing, but his grip tightened around Ryou's arm. The cold spread from that spot, numbing his arm. "I truly had thought we were past this. Was I mistaken?" He asked.

"No." Ryou said. "I was only calling to—"

"Don't bother making something up." Bakura hissed, pulling Ryou off the couch to face him. His piercing gaze went right through Ryou.

Ryou pulled away, trying to free his arm from the frigid vise-like grip. He rushed to change the subject, to avoid setting off Bakura's temper. The spirit seemed to be both infinitely patient, and yet infinitely intolerant.

"The…the Millennium Ring." Ryou said suddenly.

Bakura paused, scrutinizing Ryou. "What about it?" He said finally, his voice totally even. It didn't betray any emotion, any feeling at all, and of course his thoughts were almost completely shielded from Ryou. Only the spirit's strongest emotions could be felt through their connection. Those, or the emotions that Bakura allowed Ryou to feel.

"It came today." Ryou said quickly, bravely meeting Bakura's gaze to see his reaction, hoping the distraction from his unplanned intentions to call Yugi and try and explain things would work.

At first Bakura didn't appear to care, he just narrowed his eyes, but then he released Ryou and said in a skeptical tone, "Go get it."

Ryou rubbed his arm where the skin that Bakura had touched was practically white, as though his touch had taken the life out of it. Going over to the box, he sat down beside it and pulled out his car keys from his pocket, using the sharp end of one of them to cut through the tape that held the box marked 'FRAGILE' closed.

Bakura looked at the note, reading over it while he waited for his Host. "How ironic. It seems that your father is as determined as me to see the world meet its end." He said with a smirk.

Ryou stopped, considering an argument against the statement, but simply asked, "Why is that?"

Bakura was suddenly at Ryou's side, kneeling beside him. "Well," he began cynically, "He sent you this gift back when you were young as well, as I recall. With its aid, and yours, _together_," He emphasized this, a sneer on his face. "He's practically handed me the tools I need to accomplish my goals. Wouldn't you say that makes him on my side?"

The box lid finally popped up slightly as the tape came free, as though it was eager to be opened. "I wouldn't say that." Ryou said softly. "He sent me these because he cares about me and knew that I would enjoy them. I'm sure no one has ever cared about you enough to bother giving you anything. I think that makes him on my side." Ryou looked at the box, waiting for retaliation.

Bakura laughed coldly. "Your side." He said. "You're _on _my side…more than you realize." He laughed again, softer. "You know nothing, Hikari."

Ryou shrugged solemnly. He rubbed his head slightly where the headache was still threatening to come on any moment. Then, putting his headache aside, he lifted the box's lid gingerly. His heart was pounding, both from his minor confrontation with Bakura (something he'd never done before) and from what he might find within the box.

The box was filled to the brim with packing peanuts. They were all shades of light blue, green, yellow, and pink. A rainbow to conceal the storm cloud hiding within. Ryou dug through the colored foam peanuts for a second before he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the white Styrofoam box and brought it over to the couch. Bakura came and stood behind him, watching over his shoulder.

The lid of the Styrofoam box slipped off easily, allowing access to its contents. There it was. The Millennium Ring sat, glinting in the half-light of the living room. The gold ring and sharp tassels glittered prettily, a deceiving mask covering its true nature. But despite what it meant for him, Ryou picked it up possessively. He handled it with fragile care, supporting the tassels with one hand and holding the ring itself with the other.

Bakura watched as Ryou stood to find some rope or something similar to tie onto the Ring. As his Hikari walked out the door, he looked back down at the box. Ryou hadn't bothered checking the box for the other item that waited within. He didn't know that it would be much more prevalent in his plan than the Ring, although the Ring would certainly help.

"Oh Hikari, you're trying so hard to stay clean when you're trapped within the ashes of a world that is coming to its close." Bakura said abruptly, his tone soft, his eyes trailing back to the doorway Ryou had left out of. He bent down, reaching into the box. He could feel the item, almost sense it, and yet he couldn't literally touch it. Not with this spirit form. He straightened, his eyebrows coming together in a frown of frustration, and knowing that the issue would have to be remedied soon. Ryou wouldn't be able to harbor two strengthening demons forever, no matter how many charms Zorc had granted him.

Ryou was rummaging around in some drawers in the kitchen, trying to find the rope that he had used before. He knew he hadn't thrown it away, but where _was_ it? He sensed Bakura, waiting with uncharacteristic patience in the next room. He couldn't help but wonder once again, now in the presence of the spirit that had been eluding his questions and mental probes for the past week, if he had made the right decision.

Even as he looked for the rope for the Millennium Ring, he could feel the guilt beginning to gnaw at his conscience again, as it had been every day since the spirit's return. And, Ryou was reminded, he hadn't technically even done anything yet. How would he be able to handle things once Bakura actually started causing problems? He sighed. It was too late to turn back now. Might as well follow through and pay the consequences of his mistakes.

Finally he found the rope, softened and frayed with the passage of time. He tied it around the Ring's top golden loop, securing it tightly so that it couldn't come undone unless it was deliberately untied, or cut off. Holding it in front of his face by the rope, he walked back to the living room.

Bakura stood just as before, arms folded across his chest, face deep in vengeful thought. He looked up at Ryou's entrance, his eyes traveling from the Ring to Ryou's calm face, the turmoil of his thoughts hidden behind the brown eyes. Ryou walked up to him and held out the Millennium Ring. Bakura grasped it by the rope and held it out at arm's length to get a better look at it.

He looked at Ryou, a pleasant smirk on his face. "You'll wear the Millennium Ring from now on. It's for your own good."

Ryou couldn't help but laugh half-heartedly. "For my own good, Koe?" He shook his head. "I doubt that."

"Trust me." Bakura said quietly, "Don't think I haven't noticed how you're falling apart under the pressure of me coming back. The Ring will focus my energy within it, rather than in your mind alone." A grin traced his lips. "And if you try to go to Yugi again, I'll have more direct access to divert your course of action."

"In other words take over my body." Ryou snapped.

Bakura shrugged slightly. "Be an obedient little Host and it won't become an issue. Continue to rebel and we may have…problems. Aibou?" He held out the Ring. Ryou looked at Bakura in surprise. 'Aibou' had been the Pharaoh's favored name for Yugi. _Partner._

Never, _never_, had Bakura used that word in reference to him.

Bakura's eyes were like ice, watching Ryou as always, analyzing him. Ryou averted his gaze, uncomfortable beneath that watchful gaze. He accepted the Ring though, and, after some hesitation, slipped it over his head unsurely. No sooner had the Millennium Ring fallen back against his chest then he paled in shock.

He breathed in sharply. Immediately, the aura of the spirit was all around him. Its strength was suffocating, like a black blanket that was slowly but surely smothering him. Ryou fell to his knees and grabbed onto the couch for support. His knuckles turned white and his fingers curled, digging into the fabric. Bakura smiled, baring sharp teeth and laughed in sadistic amusement.

"Is something wrong, Yadonushi?" He said derisively, standing over him. Ryou kneeled on the floor, gasping for breath. The Millennium Ring dangled heavily from his neck, and Ryou put one hand on his chest. It felt like someone was stepping on him, the pressure squeezing him and causing him to curl over even further. His lungs felt tight and he was lightheaded almost to the point of pain. His headache, which had finally begun to subside and leave him without the crippling pain he usually had, exploded again with the strain. The dark space in his mind that he couldn't penetrate seemed to be magnified as the power of the ancient relic flowed through him.

The spirit regarded him curiously, coldly watching him struggle with the influence of the Ring.

Slowly the shock subsided as Ryou's physical body adjusted to the new force. His breath rattled and his eyes were closed. The hand on the couch relaxed and slipped onto the floor. He collapsed, slumped against the couch, breathing hard. Feeling completely drained, he looked up wearily. The spirit was standing a ways away, his face still caught in a deriding smirk. This was only a temporary weakness. No actual harm had befallen his Host, or he wouldn't have been so amused. As soon as Ryou got used to the Ring again, he would be able to wear it as he used to. Casual and unnoticed.

"I don't…remember…it being so…hard, before." Ryou said weakly between breaths.

"A lot of things have changed since then. When you first received the Millennium Ring, it was the first time I had awakened in 3000 years. I was _weak_ before." He said this in disgust, as though irritated to have to admit it to himself. "I've only grown stronger over the last few months, gathering my strength in the Realm of Darkness. It's also understandable that your separation from the Millennium Ring may have had an effect on _your_ ability to handle it. You'll grow used to it with time." Bakura looked down at Ryou's collapsed form on the floor. "Go get some rest. You look like you might pass out."

Ryou staggered to his feet obediently and made his way down the hall as Bakura dissipated into the newly acquired Ring. One hand was held out for anything to give support, while the other was clenched unmercifully around the rope attached to the Millennium Ring. He stumbled to his room, feeling weaker with every step. Somehow he managed to find his way to his bed before his legs gave way to exhaustion. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

He awoke again only an hour later, still exhausted. His mind and body were tired to the point of collapse, and Ryou felt that they would fail him any moment…and yet sleep eluded him. A headache blistered through his mind, remaining from the shock of the Millennium Ring.

Ryou stood up, going over to the window and looking outside. The moon was just beginning in its zenith across the night sky as it was still early. Stars, barely visible above the harsh glare of the city lights, tried their best to outshine one another upon the deep black nighttime canvas. Down on the street a few cars drove past every now and then. Street lamps blinked on and off at regular intervals. A few buildings and businesses had lights on, but most had closed for the evening.

Rubbing his neck where the cord chafed at his skin, Ryou turned from the window and walked back down the hall to the living room. The box, full of packing peanuts, sat abandoned in the middle of the floor. The note was beside it.

"Oh." Ryou said suddenly. He'd just remembered that his father had sent not only the Millennium Ring, but another gift as well. He was surprised he'd forgotten it, but in the confusion with the Ring, it wasn't actually all that surprising. The peanuts shifted, their quiet squeaking and shuffling seemed loud in the quiet of his home, as he dug down to the bottom of the box. His hand touched whatever it was, and he grasped it.

It was heavy, but he managed to drag it out, and was surprised to see that it was a book. A large, heavy, thick, obviously very old book. He sat down on the floor beside the box and examined it. The cover was made of dark brown leather. It was soft, worn down. A large golden eye, similar to the one on his Ring, was on the cover. Thin trails of gold bound the book, heavily adorning the corners and the spine. They stretched out over the cover, reaching in small arrows and designs towards the Eye of Wdjat in the center. Bordering the edges was a rock-hard white material in a carefully set pattern. Ryou gingerly fingered it, realizing that it was made of bone. How the creators of the book had fashioned _bone_ into the strange designs that were on the edges of the book he had no clue, but it was obviously very finely made. Ryou opened the cover, eager to see the contents despite his fatigue.

There, perfectly preserved, were lines upon lines of ancient Egyptian script. The perfect little symbols were aligned in neat rows, and occasionally spiraled off into patterns. Pictures describing events, histories, or rituals--Ryou couldn't tell which--broke the lines of text.

Another small note from his father was pasted on the inside of the book. _I've actually had this book for ages_ he'd written. _It's been sitting in a box ever since the excavation of the ancient ruins a few miles from the Valley of the Kings. I was waiting for a good opportunity to give it to you._

Ryou crumpled the note, tossing it aside. It was forgotten almost immediately as he turned the pages, looking at the foreign language displayed before him. Looking at the book, Ryou could partially understand what his father felt as he excavated. It was exciting, finding the remnants of a long dead civilization.

Eyes scanning the page, Ryou could make out just a few of the simple symbols. His father favoring Egypt above all other archeological dig sites, he liked to send a few symbols and their meanings to Ryou with his letters. Regardless, Ryou knew only a small percentage of the huge amount of symbols that composed the Ancient Egyptian language. His father expecting him to make anything of the gibberish on the page was ridiculous. But maybe…

He wondered vaguely if Bakura would be willing to do a little scribe work. Being from Egypt, the spirit would most certainly be able to read it, wouldn't he? It was doubtful that Bakura would be willing to help though. He'd probably laugh in Ryou's face.

Ryou shrugged, dismissing the idea, and closing the book. He carried it back up to his room with him. The book was an amazing piece of archeology regardless of if he could read the words or not. Maybe he could even take it to the museum and see if someone in the Egypt department could read it.

Feeling a glimmer of excitement, his worries, his tiredness, and even his headache temporarily forgotten, Ryou lay the book on his desk and returned to his bed.

* * *

Wow, you know writing my story is exciting. I think I have more fun writing the story out then people do reading it. My lack of reviews would testify to that, I believe. I want to thank those who do review though. It means a lot!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!! (please please please?)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This is probably the fastest simultaneous update I've had on this story since I very first wrote it. That's a WOOHOO moment for me!

* * *

"No!" A man screamed, sitting up from his bed in a cold sweat. His cry echoed slightly, and then dwindled back into the perfect stillness. He put a hand to his eyes, closing them, but the nightmare remained. The vivid images seemed to be trapped within his mind, swirling around him, not letting him escape. They mingled with previous nightmares until it was all a jumbled mess of pictures and words that tormented him, plaguing his sleep.

"Bakura." He suddenly growled, climbing out of his bed and walking across the room to the outdoor balcony. "Even in death you prove to be an adversity."

The door, a piece of thin wood covered in gold plating on small wooden wheels, slid open a few inches and a brown-haired girl poked her head in. "Hello, Atem! I heard you yell so I came to see what was…Are you okay?" She asked, seeing Atem's face. It was cold, thoughtful, rather than the peaceful calm visage he usually had. That he _should_ have had. People were always calm in the Afterlife…nothing was supposed to trouble them.

He turned and looked at her, a slight smile, one that didn't reach up to his ruby eyes, on his face. "I'm fine, Mana." She stood there watching, unsure if she should come in or just leave. Finally he said with a laugh, "You don't have to stand in the doorway."

Mana smiled and stepped in, sliding the door closed behind her. She crossed the room with a bouncy skip, going out onto the balcony beside the previous Pharaoh. They both stood in silence for awhile. The sky was a dark blue, although not the deep inky black of night skies on Earth. Bright pinpricks of light that could have been stars, or other worlds, twinkled above them.

Below was a desert, but not a barren lifeless desert. Plants—papyrus and reeds—flourished alongside a silver-blue ribbon of water that cut a path through the sandy bronze landscape. Animals called to each other. Bats fluttered around, crickets chirped, birds played their evening songs, creating a pleasant chorus. It was Egypt as it had been through Atem's eyes. A place that if misunderstood could appear hostile, and indeed if not respected the desert would not hesitate to take a life, and yet it was a beautiful place despite it all.

"So…" Mana said, breaking the quiet. "Why'd you yell?"

Atem's face turned away. It was embarrassing to admit that you'd woken up screaming because of a silly dream, like a toddler calling for his mother. He and Mana were best friends though, and had been since his childhood on Earth. "It was nothing." He said honestly. "Just a nightmare."

"That's not a bad thing." Mana said, reading his expression. "You don't have to be ashamed because you had a bad dream." She shrugged. "I used to have them all the time. About magic, and my tests, and Mahad getting angry with me for not practicing. What did you dream about?" She leaned over the balcony, rocking back and forth on her forearms.

"It was very confusing. I'm not…" He sighed, and said, "I don't really understand it myself."

Mana smiled and patted his arm. "It's okay, it was just a dream."

Atem nodded in agreement, but couldn't shake the foreboding feeling the dreams had left behind. They seemed like more than overactive imaginings. They seemed like more than simple memories that were reoccurring in his sleep. They seemed…real.

"So, since you're up, do you want to go for a walk?" Mana asked, her voice perky.

"Perhaps another time." Atem hedged. With his somber mood, it wouldn't be enjoyable for either of them.

Mana shrugged. "Alright then!" Then, without hesitation, she took a few steps back to get a running start.

Atem reached for her. "Mana no, not—" She evaded his grasp and suddenly leapt off the balcony. Atem lunged forward, but missed and watched her fall down the sixty-five foot drop to the ground. He finished, "That way." Mana stood up off the ground where she'd landed, catlike, turned to wave up at him, and then went on her way.

"Just because she can'tget hurt doesn't mean that she should go leaping off balconies." He muttered, eyes following her until she disappeared around the side of the building, but his voice and face betrayed his amusement at her stunt.

He turned back into his room, and leaned against a large, intricately carved alabaster pillar. His thoughts returned again to the dream he'd had. Three words from it stood out more than anything else. The words had come to him as more of a feeling of despair and guilt than anything else.

_You've abandoned them_.

It was silly. Who did the nightmare speak of? Yugi? Joey or Tristan or Tea? Who was he abandoning!

In the nightmare itself he'd felt helpless to aid _anyone_, felt fault and remorse because he _hadn't_ been able to help. And yet he had never ever abandoned anyone! He'd spent three-_thousand _years defeating the ultimate force of darkness, never resting or giving up even when it seemed like nothing could be done. The key was hidden, he'd seen to it himself. He'd accomplished his task, surviving every obstacle, uncovering every secret, solving all the puzzles. There was no more he could've done, so abandonment was really unheard of. If that were true though then why was this nightmare affecting him so strongly?

_Perhaps there is no reason_ he thought to himself, leaving his room and walking down the hall until he reached an opening into a peaceful oasis-like garden. In his home on earth, he'd had one almost identical to it in his palace. Curtains made of a light colored, almost transparent material flowed down from the tops of the pillars like silent waterfalls, forever flowing. A large pond sat in the middle. Lilies, currently covered in small pink flowers, blanketed the surface of the water. Frogs croaked pleasantly from the fanning papyrus and decorative reeds that grew on the banks of the pond.

Atem sat down on the stone steps that led down to the pond, still lost in his thoughts. The nightmare was fading now, losing its edge with time. With a shake of his head, the former Pharaoh let it drift away, deciding he would think on it no more unless the nightmares persisted much longer, and he sincerely hoped that they wouldn't.

~.~.~.~.~

Ryou glanced at the clock again. He needed to get to school…but then again, being five minutes late wouldn't really hurt him much. Shaking his head, he turned another page in the book. His fingered shadowed over the paper, feeling the smooth texture of the papyrus, tracing the rough edges. Beside him was a paper with symbols from the book that he'd understood. From the few words he'd gotten he couldn't really decipher anything, but it was enjoyable to try anyways.

He looked at the clock again, biting his lip. He would be late anyways, and he still had to drive there… Just till the end of the page then.

'And here I was under the impression that you found school to be an important asset.' sneered a voice in his head, making him jump in surprise.

"So first," Ryou said, his voice hard because of his shock, "you completely ignore me for a week, and _now _you want to speak to me regularly." He snorted, and then muttered under his breath, "I wish you'd make up your mind."

He turned the page, moving on to the next regardless of his plan to stop at the previous. "I do think school is important." Ryou said quietly (still speaking out loud. He was uncomfortable with speaking mentally still.) trying to not let any emotion betray him. He couldn't admit to Bakura that there were lingering traces of that fear from before… Especially now that that Ring was back. There were just too many memories, too much happening at once. He touched it where it lay against his chest. It was still sapping his strength. He didn't know how long it would take for him to adjust, but he hoped it was soon. For now it was an effort just to walk around and function normally. Bakura, Ryou knew, would take advantage of any of his weaknesses to their full. "I work hard at it, but I consider this learning as well."

The spirit simply released a cold laughter that lingered, echoing in his mind. Ryou shivered at the sound, a sound he'd dreaded for so long. But then Bakura's imminent presence began to fade. He was just a glimmer of consciousness when Ryou suddenly called out, "Wait, Koe!"

Ryou felt a stream of surprise from his other. There was a long pause, and Ryou thought that the demon had ignored him and gone to do his own business—whatever that may have been. But after a moment, an ethereal form of the spirit appeared right beside Ryou gradually. Ryou shivered again, uncomfortably aware of how close Bakura stood.

He was more substantial, Ryou noticed. The spirit, when he'd first arrived, had been indistinct, almost hard to see because of his faded state. Now the spirit, although a spirit still, seemed to appear more real. Ryou could see less of the room behind him. The spirit cleared his throat impatiently, waiting for Ryou's explanation of why he'd called him out.

"Um, can you read this?" Ryou asked softly, his face flushing in embarrassment. He was asking Bakura, the demon who had tried—was still trying—to destroy the world, if he could read a book for him.

"Unfortunately I can't help you." Bakura said icily. "Do you know what that is, _Aibou_?"

Ryou shook his head slightly. His father hadn't said, but had only told him that it was found near the Valley of the Kings in a ruined city. He didn't bother telling Bakura this, knowing he wouldn't care.

"It is known as the Millennium Spell Book." Bakura said, leaning down so that he could see the symbols. "As its title suggests, its contents are spells. Those spells can grant a devastating power to those who are able to decipher them. Those spells are the same that created the Millennium Items.

"The hieroglyphs written there are of a dialect that was lost even to the Egyptians. It took them months, perhaps years, to decipher even the one spell that allowed them to defeat the Assyrians and win their freedom." He laughed again. Ryou's eyes widened at the revelations. This book in front of him had created the most powerful items ever to be forged on Earth. And it was only one spell! And this was the book his father had given him? Bakura's hand brushed the papyrus page of the book. "I can barely read hieroglyphs of my own time period, Hikari. I understand the Japanese kanji better than my native tongue. What makes you believe that I could read these?"

"Well, you did live in Egypt. I just thought that you'd be able to read what it said." Ryou said, slightly disappointed, and feeling like the book should probably be in more official hands. A spell book and an extremely powerful one at that, and it was the property of a college student who couldn't even decipher its text.

"I was a _thief _living in Egypt; A thief who never had a decent upraising at that. I robbed tombs, I didn't read the inscriptions on them." Bakura informed his younger counterpart derisively. He leaned towards Ryou, his white hair falling over his shoulders, and said softly, "Better for you that I can't read that book. Some of the spells written there are particularly…nasty." A leer split his face, and he laughed as he leaned away from Ryou before his face settled back into a confident smirk, his eyes following Ryou.

Ryou shrugged, shoving away the scurries of fear that trembled through him, and running his hand through his silvery hair. He was hesitant to believe the spirit, who lied whenever it proved convenient, or perhaps whenever it was entertaining.

He gently turned the pages back and closed the cover with almost reverent care. He grabbed his school bag and began shoving items in it, doing his best to ignore the spirit who still stood by his desk, staring at him with eyes that seemed to burn right through him.

Having almost everything ready to go, Ryou finally took the book and placed it inside his schoolbag beside his laptop. He had a few people in mind that he thought might be able to decipher some of the text that was written on the pages, nasty spells or not.

Finally he turned to face the demon, which had moved less than an inch. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryou said softly, standing near the door.

The spirit raised an eyebrow and laughed again (something he did so often, though Ryou truly never found the humor in the situation), the sound grating on Ryou's nerves like a cat being rubbed the wrong direction. He paused and smirked, "How time changes people. Five short months of my absence has transformed you, Yadonushi. Would you have even spoken to me before? Would you have _ever_ argued?" His lips curved up in a crooked half smile. "I used to look at you as a tool, useful but rather uninteresting."

Ryou's pale features hardened slightly. Bakura continued though, "What are you to me now, though? A tool still? A partner? Or merely a Host? You certainly aren't as willing to do as you're told. You have a spark in you that I thought I'd stamped out... Will that spark turn cold, or will it burn all the brighter because of your circumstances?"

He paused, his gaze narrowing. "I know your mind inside and out. Every thought and impulse of yours is as good as mine. And so I know that you will help me. Despite all your misgivings about whose 'side' you're truly on, know that the world will fall to the Shadows very soon, and part of the blame can—and _will_—be placed on you."

Ryou turned his head, not able to look at the demon a moment longer. Those words echoed in his mind. Would he really be the cause of ending the world as everyone knew it? When he looked up again a split second later, the spirit was gone. Ryou sighed in relief, only to feel a set of frigid hands place themselves on his shoulders from behind, paralyzing him. A voice, Bakura's, whispered in his ear, "I want to apologize. It can't be easy to share your life with a demon." The spirit chuckled slightly, his breath coming cold against Ryou's cheek.

Then the spirit disappeared, the presence behind him gone, but Ryou remained paralyzed. He could still feel the hands pressed on his shoulders, the words in his ears. Bakura had just apologized. True, it was a cynical apology at best, but an apology still. Ryou wouldn't have ever believed it possible for his darkness to utter words of remorse, sarcastic or not. Choking back all the confused emotions that were stopping up his mind, Ryou grabbed his bag and coat (the weather was beginning to chill as winter approached) and rushed out the door.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Ryou's school day had been boring and long. He'd been dead tired, practically collapsing in his last classes, or passing out from exhaustion on the long walks between. Now his lack of energy was worse than ever. The Ring, well hidden beneath the layers of casual clothing and his jacket, was drawing strength from him like the seemingly endless string from a spool of thread…but the spool had to run out some time, didn't it?

Shoulders slumped against the fatigue, his eyes drooping, Ryou made his way out to his car. He still had places to go, tired or not. Ryou's car stuttered to a start and he made his way out of the parking lot and towards his destination: Domino Museum.

The museum was as large and empty as ever. Surprisingly, very few people went there. Only a handful of cars littered the parking lot that was meant for hundreds. This meant that on the inside you felt as if you were alone in the museum. Carrying his schoolbag, which housed the Millennium Spell Book, he walked up to the front desk. A terse woman sat behind a large marble countertop. A pair of black, horn-rimmed glasses was perched on her nose and she looked up at Ryou over them, not stopping in her typing.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice a nasally falsetto.

Ryou smiled, doing his best to look alert, and explained, "Yes, I need to speak with whoever is in charge of the department of Egyptology here at the museum."

The woman raised an eyebrow, her nose crinkling with the action. Then she picked up the phone and began speaking into it. Ryou didn't listen in, not really interested in what she might be saying. He turned, looking at the displays that were right near the front desk. A display of American Indian artifacts was on one wall, while artifacts of China began on the wall opposite of that.

"Excuse me, sir." The woman said, sounding exasperated. Ryou turned around. "The head of Egyptology will be waiting for you in the Egyptian wing of the museum. Up the stairs and to the left." She pointed at the stairs that were behind the desk, and then immediately went back to her typing.

"Thank you." Ryou said, but she didn't give him any sort of acknowledgment that she'd heard him. Not bothering to take offense at the brusque behavior of the secretary, Ryou gathered his bag and walked up the stairs quickly, anticipation granting him some energy. He found the Egyptology wing easily, having been their many times. The corridor leading to it was lined by obelisks and sphinxes, imitations of real stone carvings in Egypt. At the end, in the entrance to the main part of the large display, was the man he presumed he was looking for.

The man was wearing a pair of slacks and a shirt that was neither formal nor casual. He held a briefcase, but it looked out of place. His hair was a disorderly mess of sandy brown. Ryou hid his skepticism, walking up to the man who was actually a few inches shorter than him. The man, upon seeing the teen, rushed up, hand held out.

"My name is Kyo Honohma, head of the Egyptology department here at Domino. I was told you asked to speak with me?" He introduced himself.

Ryou took his hand, shaking it, and then said, "Yes. My father and I, mostly my father, well we're very interested in Egypt. My father is an archeologist working on a site in Egypt. He enjoys sending me trinkets every now and then. Just yesterday I received a package from him that had a book in it. It's a very, well, I'll just show you."

"Ah yes, come right over here." Kyo led them over to a long bench where visitors could sit and rest their legs. It was currently empty. They sat down and Ryou placed his bag on his lap. Kyo was watching with rapt attention, interest evident on his face. Ryou had a distinct feeling that his father would've gotten along well with him. He pulled out the Millennium Spell Book, putting it on his lap and placing a hand on it possessively.

"This book was found in ruins near the Valley of the Kings. My father gets rather excited when he finds artifacts and sometimes doesn't want to see them placed behind glass. He sent this to me because of its excellent preservation. Despite its age, it has no signs of deterioration." Ryou explained, opening the intricately decorated cover fragilely.

"He wanted me to try and translate some of it. Unfortunately, I know very little of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and this seems to be in an unfamiliar form of them. I couldn't read much of it."

Kyo was staring at the book in amazement. "May I?" he asked, already grasping the edges of the book. Ryou handed it over willingly. "This is superb, amazing! Such perfect preservation… Great care _must_ have been taken to ensure that the book made it to the afterlife. Such a perfectly preserved artifact!" he babbled, hardly even speaking to Ryou, who couldn't help but be amused. This man, supposed to hold an office of responsibility, was thrilled by the appearance of one artifact, like a child who'd received a new toy.

"My question to you," Ryou interrupted his exploration of the book, "Is: are you able to read what is written there?"

"My, my…" He opened the book with utmost care, looking at the pages with an expert's eye. "Why, this dialect was supposed to have been lost! _Very_ few Egyptian artifacts have this script on it. Tell me would you be willing to donate it to the museum?" His eyes were wide, begging Ryou to consider.

"Honohma-san, can you read the text?" Ryou asked again, disregarding the donation question.

"Ah, um, well…you see…no, actually. There's been no key found to translate that specific form of Ancient Egyptian." He shrugged an apology. "I'm sure _someone_ could read it, but I'm afraid that I'm not that someone. If it were a more common dialect, it would be a breeze."

Ryou nodded. He hadn't expected the man to be able to help him regardless. "Well I see that it's impossible." He took the book out of the man's hands, sliding it back into his bag. The man's eyes followed the book enviously.

"Then, you wouldn't be willing to donate?" He asked, disappointment lacing his voice.

"I'm afraid not, but thank you for your time, Honohma-san." Ryou nodded, standing up.

"Ah, thank you for taking the time to let me see that artifact…um…" He gestured at Ryou.

"Oh!" Ryou said, realizing the man wanted his name. "Ryou Bakura."

"Thank you, Bakura-san, for taking time out of your day." He smiled, "Being interested in Egypt, I would assume that you know you share the name of a legend of Egypt?" The man said, standing up to shake Ryou's hand again.

Ryou cocked his head, looking down at the man in surprise, despite that he knew he was being set up for a history lesson. Laughing lightheartedly, Kyo led Ryou over to a display. A rock filled with fading pictures and carvings was set into a glass case on the wall.

"This stone depicts the story or legend really, of a man known as the Thief King Bakura, among other things of course." Kyo said, sounding for all the world like an overeager tour guide. Ryou leaned in, looking at the carvings with genuine interest. He caught his breath as he looked at a figure that, while it didn't necessarily _look_ like Bakura, gave off the same image he always did. Even in the carving, the thousands of years old carving, the artist had managed to somehow capture Bakura's superiority and confidence. The figure was dressed in a robe; their hair was as unruly as Bakura's although it was shorter. Was this carving _really_ telling the story of the dark spirit of the Millennium Ring?

Ryou paused, looking over the rest of the carving. He realized right then that he didn't know much of anything about Bakura. His understanding of the spirit was all very shallow; Ryou had no depth into _who _he was so much as _what _he was. If he was being honest, it had never quite occurred to him that the spirit had had a life, one where he hadn't stolen other innocents' bodies to use as vessels. He could probably count the number of things he _did _know about Bakura on one hand.

He knew he was a spirit seeking revenge (that much was obvious). He knew that Bakura had refuge within both the Millennium Ring and his own mind, and that he and the Millennium Ring had been connected in the past. He knew that he'd almost succeeded in bringing the world into darkness and now was trying yet again. And, the one smidge of his past he did know, the spirit had been a Tomb Thief.

But what of the spirit himself? Nothing.

Yugi refused to tell Ryou Bakura's past, what little he knew of it. Why? Ryou still didn't know. In Ryou's eyes, Bakura was nothing more than a sadist, a being unable to move on, a spirit and demon who enjoyed the torment of his Host and others. Such small, unimportant opinionated details. His 'yami', that essential other half of his soul, the same that was _living _in his mind, and Ryou knew no facts about him.

And it had never occurred to Ryou that anyone else knew about Bakura either. It had always seemed like Bakura was apart from everything else, something no one knew about. Something no one should know about.

"The Thief King was known by many as the Pharaoh of Egypt's Underworld. Thieves, bandits, all manner of criminals saw him as their unofficial King. In short, they respected him when they respected no one else. He had a lot of followers, surprisingly." Kyo said, clasping his hands behind his back as he explained part of a story that Ryou had never imagined he'd hear.

"In fact, by these symbols here, it seems that people thought he was some sort of magician or god. Some worshipped him, in fact. Others feared him. Egyptians were, of course, very superstitious. According to these…" He swept his hand over a group of symbols beside a thing that looked like a crocodile standing upright with two heads and bat-like wings on its back. "This thief supposedly made a deal with a demon called Zorc Necrophades, the very enemy of Ra, and became a demon-god himself. The demon, with Thief Bakura's aid, was brought into the world.

"The only thing that saved Egypt was the power of the Nameless Pharaoh, which, it was discovered recently, was actually the Pharaoh Atem, son of the great Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen who saved Egypt from the Assyrians early in his rule as Pharaoh." He moved over to a second, slightly smaller stone tablet that continued the story. "Using some sort of 'power from Ra' that's depicted as three great beasts, the Pharaoh Atem defeated both the demon and the Thief King Bakura, but it cost him his life, and it is believed, his afterlife as well, for every document and record of his name was erased, hence his title The Nameless Pharaoh. As you must know, it was believed that if the name was not passed on with the being, they could not enter the afterlife. To curse them by erasing their name...it was the last thing, the most _terrible_ deed, that could be done to one who had already moved on, essentially damning them to the eternal misery of one banned from the world beyond. Obviously the name was of vital importance, so why erase any trace of it? We still don't know the answer to _that _question."

Kyo's face was a radiant smile that clearly displayed his pleasure at being able to explain the story to someone. He sighed. "Of course, we know that the Pharaoh Atem was, in fact, a true Pharaoh. His tomb is in the Valley of the Kings with his father's, though little effort has been put into exploring it. But what of the Thief King? There are many speculations by Egyptologists and Archeologists around the world about the meaning and symbolism behind the legend that is written here."

He shrugged. "Some believe that perhaps it constitutes a great battle of the gods of Egypt against the people, as is described. Some think the entire thing is nothing more than a child's tale since there is little other evidence of the legend. It's my personal opinion that the Thief King was merely a successful thief, who probably managed to gather an army of Egyptians to back him and attacked the Pharaoh and his armies. He was probably very persuasive, a good public speaker as it were, and managed to convince the people of his superiority." He lowered his voice until it was a deep menacing tone. "If you believe the stories though, the legend says that the Ka of the Demon Thief King is still roaming, waiting to take his revenge on Egypt, and become a god and ruler of the world." His voice suddenly lightened and he laughed loudly at the foolishness of the story. "It is one of my personal favorite Egyptian Legends though."

He didn't notice Ryou's tight features, how he stiffened as he heard the legend of the Thief King's Ka still roaming, the way his eyes continued to pour over the inscriptions and carvings. "Does the legend say _how_ Bakura managed to brink Zorc Necrophades out of his own realm?" He asked, trying to maintain his calm.

Kyo speculated, "Hm, I'm not quite sure it mentions that…but—ah! Here we are. It says that he used the power of the Legendary Millennium Items and the Millennium Stone in order to….open a path to both the afterlife and the realm of the dark god."

Ryou frowned, and turned toward the stairs and exit. "Don't discredit the legend, Honohma-san." He said seriously. "It's truer than you believe." He turned back around, a golden pendant in his hand. Kyo gasped at the fine workmanship. The pendant was obviously Egyptian. "This is called the Millennium Ring. It's one of seven Millennium Items." The boy took a breath, lowering his head for a moment, and then he looked back up, a strange determination in his eyes. "This Ring is what allowed the Thief King Bakura to _almost_ destroy the world. It is also what is allowing his spirit to take refuge within my body."

Kyo laughed again, half-heartedly, trying to keep up his smile. "I'm sorry sir, but I think you're slightly…confused. The story _is _just a legend."

Ryou smiled sadly. He hadn't expected the man to believe him. And he was surprised that Bakura had let him say so much. "You can believe whatever you want, Honohma-san." Ryou said, turning away, tucking the Ring inside his shirt as he did so. "But _that_ is not a legend." He pointed at the stones. "That is history." _And it's going to play itself out again if I can't find a way to stop it. _

He walked away from the confused Egyptologist, back down the stairs and past the receptionist, out the door and to his car. He sat inside for a moment before starting it up and heading to his next destination that he thought might help him with the Millennium Spell Book.

'_Did you think that fool would believe you?' _Bakura sneered.

"No, but being surrounded by ignorant people, being the only one to know anything, is suffocating. I had to try to explain to someone. I didn't think he'd discredit it so quickly though." Ryou admitted.

'_If you try to explain as much to the next person you ask to decipher that book, I'll step in.' _

"You don't need to tell me. I know." Ryou told him softly, his eyes fixed on the road.

'_See that you don't forget it.' _

Finally he pulled over to the curb and stepped out of his car, book in hand. Turning, he faced the Kame Game Shop and muttered, "Well, third time's a charm."

* * *

A/N: I was actually going to keep writing the chapter, but I try to keep them all in the same length range and didn't want it to get too long. Blame Atem for sticking his nose into the story, hehe. :)

~Oh, and I know that 'Bakura' is not an 'Egyptian' name, but really, pretend that it is. I don't like "Akeifa" or whatever it is people say Bakura's real name was. To me, he's Bakura. That's it, that's all, end of story, bye bye!

Until next I update... PLEASE REVIEW, BE A GEM AND MAKE MY DAY BY LEAVING _SOME _FORM OF RESPONSE!!!!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I wanted to get at least one more update in before summer comes to its close and I have to resume life. I apologize for making you all wait for this chapter!

* * *

The bell on the door of the Kame Game Shop tinkled merrily as Ryou stepped in, the Spell Book wrapped in his arms.

'_Careful what you say, my little Yadonushi.' _Bakura warned softly, his voice echoing in Ryou's mind and giving him the impression that the spirit was standing right beside him whispering over his shoulder. The thought raised the hair on the back of Ryou's neck, but he suppressed the paranoid feeling and walked forward. He hoped that Yugi wasn't around. He would be only all too interested in the ancient artifact that Ryou was trying to unlock the mysteries of.

Luckily Yugi's grandfather was the first to come and see who was calling at the shop. "Why hello, Bakura!" He said cheerfully, coming out from a storage room behind the counter with some new packs of cards in his hands. He laid them out on the counter. "I'm afraid that Yugi isn't here right now. He went over to Tristan's with Joey. I'm sure if you called over they'd be more than happy to have you join them though." He said apologetically.

Ryou pursed his lips. "Actually…Moto-san, I wasn't looking for Yugi. I wanted to talk to you about this." He lifted the book to show him the cover.

His eyes went wide, and they practically sparkled as they took in the Egyptian book. "Ooh." He said in awe. Ryou smiled, closing the distance from the door to the counter. Gently he laid the book down in front of Sugoroku.

"This is a gift from your father, I wager?" the old man said, his hands hovering over the thick book.

"Yes, and he wanted me to try and decipher some of it. Why he didn't try himself is beyond me." Ryou shook his head. "I'd like to know what it says, but I can't read almost any of it."

A look of determination came over Yugi's grandfather's face. "This is quite the gift, Ryou Bakura. In fact…It reminds me of a book that I read about in some documents while I was traveling in Egypt. It was a book used by Egyptian priests to protect and defend the lands of Egypt. The priests put the power of the very gods themselves into that book. Unfortunately it was said to have been lost."

Ryou nodded, humoring his tales of Egypt. After all, his father was the same way. He leaned forward, opening the book to a small cluster of common hieroglyphs, ones that he'd been partially able to understand. "These are some of the only traditional Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the book." Ryou explained, turning to the next page. "The head of Egyptology at the museum—"

"Oh, that Kyo Honohma doesn't know squat about Ancient Egypt. He only studies stories and legends written on old rubble. He doesn't delve into the _real_ Egypt." Sugoroku snapped, his face serious. Ryou's lips turned up in an amused half-smile. "What did that oaf tell you?"

"Well, _he_ said that the text in the book was a lost sublanguage of Egypt and that he couldn't read it." Ryou told him.

"Humph, and so he was right." The man muttered. "This text _is_ a sublanguage, but it's certainly readable." He touched his fingers to a few of the symbols. "Yes, they share all the common characteristics of normal hieroglyphs. It would take a while, but I'm sure we could puzzle out what that book says. It's just like a game!" He grinned. "I'm sure Yugi would be willing to help you decipher it as well. He's practically better then me at this sort of thing what with sharing a mind with an Egyptian Pharaoh." He laughed heartily.

"Ah, yes." Ryou said, shifting. "How long do you think it would take?"

"Well who knows!" He exclaimed. "It certainly doesn't really matter. It's all in good fun, right?"

"Yes…I'm sure we can work on it." Ryou said, nodding. The truth was that he was curious and wanted to know what the book said. He didn't want to wait the weeks, or months, that it would take to decode all the scrambled hieroglyphs. He just wanted someone to be able to tell him.

'_That's unfortunate.' _Bakura said, surprising Ryou by actually sounding mildly disappointed. Although perhaps disappointed wasn't the right word. He sounded more impatient than anything else.

'_I'm sorry.' _Ryou thought carefully, before immediately slamming his side of the connection closed. Though it wasn't the first time he'd had the nerve to speak mentally to Bakura, he still didn't like it. He bit back the strange sensation of being vulnerable, although that's exactly how it felt whenever he tried to open up the link between him and his yami. He generally wasn't one to expose himself so easily.

The mildly amused reply echoed in his ears. _'You don't have to apologize for this fool's inanity.' _He said, laughing quietly at Ryou's reaction to speaking through their mind link.

"Bakura, would you mind if I held onto this book for a while and tried to get a better handle on these symbols?" Sugoroku interrupted. Ryou looked at him blankly for a moment before the words registered.

"Oh." He started. "I'm not sure…I think I'd rather take it back to my house and look at it, and then I'll bring it over some other time when we can begin deciphering it."

The man nodded understandingly. "If that's what you want." He lifted the book and handed it back to Ryou. The white-haired teen nodded, turning to go. "I'll let Yugi know that you dropped by!" The man called after him as he walked out the door.

He sighed, walking to his car, sliding his book into the brown book bag he carried and said under his breath, "I'd rather you didn't."

He began to unlock the door when he heard a surprised voice behind him exclaim, "Ryou?"

He flipped around and Bakura growled angrily, _'Speak of the pint-sized brat and he appears.' _

Ryou laughed, a little too loudly, as Yugi—followed by Joey and Tristan—walked up to him. "If I'd known you were going to drop by we would've come back sooner, Ryou." Yugi said with a smile. Just the barest hints of concern traced his eyes, revealing that he'd noticed Ryou's recent abnormal behavior.

"Oh, well, yes." He scratched the back of his head, searching his mind for an excuse. "I just had to ask Sugoroku some questions about an Item my father gave me…" he trailed off.

"What'd he give ya?" Joey asked curiously, leaning forward.

"Um, just a book." Ryou held back a grimace. He hated lying; dishonesty in general was one of his pet peeves, and being forced to lie to his friends was terrible. His fingers twitched nervously at his side, and the Ring suddenly felt very heavy on Ryou's chest. He could feel it beneath his shirt, icy against his bare skin. It felt like the whole world could see it despite it being hidden beneath multiple layers of clothing.

'_Calm down, _Aibou_. You aren't lying. You just aren't telling the whole truth. You're far too sensitive for your own good.' _Bakura hissed. But Bakura's input didn't help at all because Bakura was yet another thing Ryou was hiding from the rest of the world. A dark presence that everyone, that Yugi, was oblivious to. Yugi and the others perhaps more then anyone because they were under the impression that Bakura had been completely eradicated; destroyed forever.

"Come on, Ryou, mind if we see it?" Tristan suddenly put in.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea—"

"Oh come on, we're your friends Ryou. You can trust us to be careful." Joey said. Bakura growled slightly, causing Ryou to flinch. Yugi annoyed Bakura to no end; his habit of getting involved and disrupting plans had stalled the demon's goals for far too long. But Joey Wheeler was another matter. The teen was, in the eyes of the spirit, an utter imbecile; useless in all respects. At least the Pharaoh's brat had half a brain. All the idiotic blonde mortal would be good for was target practice when Zorc finally came into the world.

Yugi seemed to notice Ryou's hesitation because he interceded, "Whatever it is, it's probably very fragile. I don't think it would be a good idea to take it out right now. Maybe Ryou can bring it over another time and we can all look at it then?" He voiced it like a question, leaving Ryou open to decline.

"Yes, that would be better." Ryou said, grateful to Yugi.

"Alright, Yug, Ryou looks like he has things to do. Let's go." Joey went in the game shop, calling out, "Hey Gramps!" as he did so.

Tristan waited for a minute before Yugi said, "Go ahead inside Tristan. I'll be in, in just a minute." Ryou's stomach clenched nervously as he looked down at the duelist who was looking around at nothing in particular.

They both just stood there, Ryou feeling unbearably awkward for some reason. A week ago he wouldn't have minded spending time with Yugi. In fact, he would've been happy to. Now it seemed almost inappropriate. Reoccurring doubts, hidden in a corner of his soul since High School, came creeping out. Someone like him should never be allowed to spend time with someone like Yugi. He was hiding something dark, and he wasn't _really_ fighting it (though he was looking for ways to all the time). All the same, he was just a deceiving mask concealing something terrible. Yugi, on the other hand, seemed like all the things that a good person should be. He was kind and happy and almost too optimistic. He always found ways to help out or to fix situations.

"You haven't been acting like yourself lately." Yugi said eventually, leaning against Ryou's car.

"I guess I haven't." Ryou agreed solemnly. "I—"

'_Quiet, Hikari.' _Bakura suddenly said, and silently appeared beside him. His face held no expression. His crimson-brown eyes were fixed on Yugi, cold and hard like shards of glass. Ryou was sure his face paled, but if it did Yugi didn't seem to notice.

"Ryou, if something has been bothering you, you can tell me." Yugi assured him. "You listen to me when I have problems, and I'm willing to return the favor…I can try to understand."

A silent sigh passed through Ryou's lips, and was immediately followed by the excuses and lies that he was loathe to tell, and yet had no choice. "Yugi." Ryou started, "I know that you mean well, but I've just had a lot on my mind lately. Talking about it isn't going to help, and I'd rather not talk about it anyways. I'm sorry if I've been worrying you, but you really shouldn't be concerned. I'm fine." He smiled to emphasize the lie. _I'm so sorry Yugi. Please forgive me. Please don't hate me for pushing you away. _

Yugi scrutinized him, examining him with concern. At last he nodded though. "Okay." He paused. "But if you change your mind then you know you can talk to me."

"I know." Ryou said.

"Well, I'll let you go then. See you at school?" the teen asked.

"Yes." _I hope. _Ryou waved to Yugi as he went into the game shop and then got into his car and began to drive away. He tried to focus on the road, but his exertions had left him tired and fatigued thanks to the Millennium Ring. Though it was beginning to grow late, he decided to stop at the park. He hadn't been in a few weeks, and the park was one of his favorite places in Domino.

The park itself wasn't very large, but it had a lot of trees and plants. Paths weaved in and out of the tall trees and decorative bushes. Rocks and shrubs lines the thin pathways. A few streams ran through the park as well, and their bubbling sound echoed through the air. Moss covered a lot of the stonework, giving everything an earthy green atmosphere.

It was, honestly, a very typical garden-park, and they were found in most cities throughout Japan, but nevertheless, there were none like them in England. Parks in England were simply large fields of well-cared-for grass, large trees dotting the whole area, perhaps a single bike path and a park for children to play on. But there was none of the artistic beauty in those parks that the park in Domino had.

All in all, Ryou favored Japan far more than his home country of England. There were a lot of memories of his time there, having spent the majority of his life with his mother and sister, but many of them were not happy memories.

England was where his mother and sister, Amane, had gotten in a head on collision and died, leaving him under the negligent care of his distraught father. England was where he'd made possibly the most friends he'd ever had, and where he'd lost every single one of them. England was the place his father had very first given him the Millennium Ring which had destroyed the lives of so many innocent people that he'd known.

And even though being moved to Domino, Japan by his Japanese father when he was thirteen had torn up his already broken life, it had given him a lot of new opportunities. Like meeting Yugi, and getting the chance to rid himself of the demonic spirit within the Ring (for all the good succeeding had done him).

Ryou parked himself on a stone bench in a small natural alcove between a group of shrubs and rested his head in his hands. The falling sun was shining down through the trees. The green gem-like leaves filtered the rays of light and gave them an emerald sheen. It shone down on Ryou's hair, dappling it with bronze and copper. Hesitantly, instinctively looking around to make sure there was no one else around even though there were no other people in the entire park, he pulled the Millennium Ring out from its place beneath his shirt.

The sun glimmered off of it, and Ryou was reminded of why he had been so excited when his father had given it to him in the first place. It _was _very pretty. How could this little piece of Egyptian gold be dragging so much energy out of him? He didn't remember it ever being so exhausting to just wear the Ring before.

And the headaches… There had been headaches the first time Bakura had entered his life, but never had they been so bad. Never had they been full-blown migraines that practically crippled him whenever they hit.

"Bakura?" Ryou asked softly, searching his mind for the demon. It occurred to him that he'd never willingly spoken to his 'tenant'. Bakura had always started the conversation; had always come out first.

There was no reply, and Ryou couldn't sense any activity from the spirit either in his mind or in the Ring. He frowned. "Koe?" He asked again, "I know you can hear me."

"I'm surprised, Hikari." Bakura said after a moment, appearing beside him on the bench slowly. "Your newfound bravery never ceases to amaze me."

Ryou shook his head. "That's not the point." He paused, and then asked hesitantly, "I want to know why it's so hard. I want to know why you coming back has made it so that I can't even function normally without being exhausted by the end of the day."

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "I already explained this, or don't you remember? It _was _only yesterday."

"I remember…but I think you aren't telling me the whole truth." Ryou muttered, turning his face away, gazing at the Ring with dull eyes.

They sat in silence, Yami and Hikari. Bakura was the first to speak up again, his voice irritated. "It won't last much longer." He said coldly. Ryou looked over at him, but the demon's eyes were distant.

"Why won't you tell me, Bakura! Why can't I know what's going on in my own head?" Ryou asked, standing up suddenly, his pent up frustration coming out in a wave. "What do I have to do to make you believe that I'm not going to run off to Yugi like a tattling child? What do I have to do for you to trust me?"

"Trust you." Bakura chuckled humorlessly. "Trust is easy to destroy, but it takes time to build. I would've thought you of all people would understand that. Before this is over, your loyalties _will_ lie with me. But they don't now, Aibou. Not yet. That much is painfully obvious, and you've ruined my plans far too many times for me to give you the entire picture just yet."

"You said you expected me to trust you." Ryou reminded him. "But how can I when the trust isn't mutual?"

Bakura stood up. "I do expect you to trust me. But you speak of what you don't know, foolish Hikari. Things are not the same as they were before. _Everything_ has changed. This is a new game, with new rules, and new pawns. Failure to succeed is out of the question, and so I cannot trust you yet." He grabbed the Millennium Ring and callously pulled Ryou forward towards him. "Especially not with your history of deliberate betrayals against me."

Ryou turned his face away, uncomfortable under the sharp gaze of the demon. "I don't—" he began but Bakura grabbed a thick section of hair, entertwining his slender fingers in the silver strands, and pulled on it, silencing him.

"When will you learn _not to lie to me_?" He snarled, his hand twisting harshly.

Tears sprang unbidden to Ryou's eyes and he squeezed them shut. He wanted to cry out in pain, but he bit his lip, holding in the sound. He wouldn't give Bakura the satisfaction.

"Perhaps your mind has dimmed in these past five months, so I'll indulge you and refresh your memory." Bakura growled. "Monster World…does that name ring a bell? It _was_ your favorite game once upon a time. I was on the verge of defeating that bastard Pharaoh. The game was _mine. _But of course, you had to protect your pathetic little friends. You interfered, and you cost us the game. You paid your _life _and risked your very soul, and mine, for their sake. Only your game piece saved you. And was it worth it? They subtly avoided you, and secretly feared you after that, at least for a time, yes? And yet still you turned to them."

Ryou opened his eyes and met the demon's angry gaze. "Bakura, you were _cheating. _You were going to kill them. I couldn't just let you murder innocent—"

Bakura twisted his Hikari's hair hard. "Don't interrupt, Yadonushi. It's quite _rude._" Ryou let a breath hiss out between his teeth, but kept silent, recognizing that he'd already tested Bakura's patience farther than he would've normally dared, and pushing the demon any more at all wouldn't be wise.

"In any case that wasn't the only time." Bakura continued. "There was Duelist Kingdom as well. Do you recall a duel we had between Yugi and his friends? It _was _so long ago, in your eyes at least. Perhaps you remember that when I played the card that would have won me the duel…the card that would have turned _The Dark Magician_ against his friends…" Bakura's voice lowered dangerously, "…when I played _you, _you disobeyed me Yadonushi. _Again._ You claimed the wrong monster and then _allowed_ the Pharaoh to send me to the Graveyard. Do you remember that my devious little Hikari?'

Ryou nodded his head a miniscule amount, as much as he could with Bakura's tight grip on him. Mixed feelings swirled about in his mind. Faced with those situations, Ryou would've willingly made the same choices to protect Yugi and the others all over again. But Bakura was like the other half of Ryou's soul. They were connected in some unexplained way, no matter how much Ryou wished they weren't, and so Ryou couldn't help but also feel guilty at the crucial decisions he'd made against him. He'd never wanted a vengeful spirit possessing his body, but it had never been his choice and choosing to betray Bakura, as willing as he'd been to do so, had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

But never would he admit that to the spirit.

"I don't break promises. I'll keep my word and help you in…whatever it is you're trying to do." Ryou said. "But I will always protect my friends, promises or not. I won't hurt them."

Bakura suddenly laughed maliciously, but he gently released Ryou's hair, pulling his fingers through it rhythmically. His granite-hard eyes softened slightly, as though in sympathy. "You try so hard, Aibou, to shed your feeble light on everyone around you. But you fail to see that you become more _yami_ and less _hikari _every day. You've already lied to Yugi, little one, betrayed him. And that was all on your own. Day by day, you begin to lose yourself as you struggle against an unstoppable wave of darkness." He smirked, twisting some loose strands of Ryou's hair together, wrapping them around his ethereal fingers. "You think you have time to find a way to stop me—a task that even _you _will find utterly impossible—even while you've willingly agreed to aid me, which, I'm afraid, is completely contradictory. But unfortunately for you, time isn't on your side."

Ryou gritted his teeth, clutching the Millennium Ring tightly in his hand. He pulled back from the demon, turning his face away. He wouldn't believe that it was impossible. If he did then he might as well give up now, and he couldn't give up. He couldn't ever stop fighting.

"What, Aibou, nothing to say? No smart remarks?" Bakura asked snidely.

"Stop calling me that." Ryou said abruptly, throwing a cold glance at the spirit.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with my nickname, _partner_? Perhaps it's simply because the Pharaoh used to call that brat Yugi by that name."

"That's exactly why. You are nothing like…" Ryou paused, gathering his thoughts. "You…do not act like a partner. You don't care about me at all. I'm just a 'pawn' to you, a Host. So stop acting like you actually care what I think." Ryou finished. He met Bakura's gaze, and then turned away, beginning to make his way out of the park slowly. The sun was low on the horizon now, and shadows were gathering beneath the trees. It would be dark soon.

Bakura followed, walking as though he actually had a physical body, but remained uncharacteristically silent. Ryou didn't look over his shoulder at him, although he was curious about the spirit's silence, seeing as how if he'd actually been finished talking he would've just disappeared into the Millennium Ring.

Bakura kept his eyes on Ryou's retreating back, his gaze hard, as he followed him out of the park.

The demon suddenly felt as though he were meeting Ryou for the first time, as though this was a new Host and not a vessel he'd shared for nearly a decade. The mortal's strength and his defiance were…surprising, to say the least. Ryou acted rashly; obviously he'd forgotten that Bakura could extinguish him like a flickering candle at any time. His emotions were stronger now, he'd overcome his fear of letting people see him as he was. He'd overcome his fear of _Bakura_ seeing him as he was, for the most part in any case. And the spirit's lax attitude, his leniency with the teen—so different from their previous relationship—was no doubt only increasing his confidence.

True, Bakura could sense Ryou's caution around him, but it felt as though Ryou were testing him, pressing his limits, like a child seeing how far he could go before his father pulled out the belt. Bakura frowned, irritation at his Hikari's strength crawling under his skin. It was unusual for him to let the boy behave this way, but it would be easier to manipulate Ryou if he wasn't terrified of the demon. Nevertheless, it was difficult to step down and not retaliate more harshly to the boy's subtle arrogance.

Bakura took in a steady breath, holding back his emotions, not letting them get the best of him. He would let his anger with Ryou's newfound strength slide, for now, partialy because for once the demon couldn't say _exactly_ how he felt about this turn of events.

Ryou's actions continued to prove time and again that he was nothing like Bakura had expected upon returning to Earth. It made no difference in the long run, and yet it still intrigued, and slightly frustrated him.

It also surprised him just how well Ryou was dealing with the mental pressure that was being exerted in his mind. Of course the boy complained about headaches and fatigue; he didn't realize how much worse it could've been though.

The demon slowed, closing his eyes for a moment.

Ryou didn't even know, didn't have a clue, about how much true power he was harboring secretly within himself, waiting to be let loose on the unsuspecting world. Zorc's shadow magic was immense, nearly unending, and having it all forced on this young human being almost at once was a feat that Ryou was handling amazingly considering that he also had the additional mental stress of dealing with Bakura.

It was a lot to put upon the shoulders of any mortal, let alone a young ignorant child such as his Host. But Ryou's dealings with shadow magic in the past seemed to be helping him deal with it well enough now.

Bakura's crimson-brown eyes opened and narrowed thoughtfully. How truly unaware Ryou was. He thought he had insight into the workings of the dark forces flowing around him, within him. He thought he could find a way to stop things before they reached a point in which they would be irreversible. But in reality he knew almost nothing of the situation before him. He knew nothing of Zorc. He knew nothing of the dark spells in the Millennium Spell Book. He knew nothing of the true extent of Bakura's powers.

He knew nothing of the task that he would have to take on in the near future.

_He will object, of course, until I tell him the consequences if he fails to succeed._ Bakura thought silently. Ryou was far ahead of him down the path now, almost to the road where his car was parked. Bakura disappeared from the park, manifesting in the corridors of the human's mind.

The statement that Ryou didn't have the advantage of time to try and sort things out was only too true. Only two things, two small tasks, remained and all the pieces would be in place. First was the spells. Finding the _right_ spell out of the Millennium Spell Book was vital, for otherwise Zorc would be trapped in Ryou's mind and the only way to be released would be for him to commandeer Ryou's body for his own. If that came to pass, Ryou's soul would be eradicated, shredded and sent to the shadows. There would be no place within Zorc's mind for a helpless mortal like Ryou. That had been one of the risks involved in allowing the demon lord to take refuge in the human, but it was a risk Bakura had been willing to take for the simplicity that it would allow him in the end.

The second task was to find the key. The final key that was holding back the Shadow Realm, holding it in check. In the past, the simple knowledge of the Pharaoh's name, _Atem_, had locked the magic away. It had been the power in that name and the power in the Pharaoh combined that had allowed that accursed word to banish the dark powers of the Shadow Realm from this world.

But there was a fatal flaw in that strategy, one that Bakura had seen as soon as it had been executed.

Any practiced thief knows that _every_ locked door can be picked with the right tools, something the self-righteous Pharaoh hadn't seemed to understand when he left for his afterlife. Bakura traced his fingers along the walls of Ryou's mind. The key was here in this earthly realm, and it was close. It just had to be found and destroyed. Then the magic would be released, never to be trapped and confined again, and Zorc's power would reach its peak.

Bakura only had to discover where the Pharaoh had hidden it.

Coming to the door that led into his Soul Room Bakura paused. He pressed his hand against the black metal of the door, concentrating, his thoughts abruptly interrupted. Something was different. Bakura could feel a change in Ryou's mind. It was a subtle change, but the smallest changes could make the biggest differences in ones subconscious. Bakura turned, examining the hallway. Ryou's door was directly across from his. Nothing seemed different about it. It was a simple brown wooden door. Beyond it, Ryou's fragile soul rested. The change wasn't the door itself…it was the ground before it. Bakura looked down curiously, realizing that flooding Ryou's mind were rolling waves of black mist. The dark clouds of shadows rolled along the floor, writhing like a living thing. They lapped against the walls, drawing towards Bakura's soul room while at the same time probing Ryou's door, as though trying to find a way in to the sealed room.

As the shadows usually did, they gathered around Bakura, wrapping around his legs, clinging to his skin caressingly. He frowned, drawing his fingers through them easily. The shadows were familiar to him, but never had they come this far into Ryou's mind. It hadn't been long enough; Zorc's power shouldn't have been such that his darkness would deluge the rest of Ryou's subconscious mind this way. The shadows _should _have dissipated as soon as they left the perimeter surrounding Zorc's self-claimed portion of the human's mind.

Bakura, increasingly curious, followed the shadows down the hallways, going to the blackest areas of his host's mind, where Zorc's 'soul room' was.

When he arrived at the wall that cut him off he couldn't see the door at first. It was shrouded in the flowing black mists that were clogging this hall. They rolled around in great waves, obscuring everything. In fact he could barely see a few feet in front of him. He stepped forward further, straining to see the door. The shadows snaked around him, but finally they, almost reluctantly, settled away from the immense wall. Bakura's eyes widened in shock then his face darkened in irritation.

The door to Zorc's soul room was open.

* * *

A/N: Once again, I find that I could have continued this chapter quite easily by returning to Ryou's point of view, but this time I stopped for wholly selfish reasons... I felt like leaving my readers at a cliffhanger.

I just want to say that I write for the same reason I breath, if I didn't I would die. Regardless, please favor me with some form of response (IE. LEAVE A REVIEW) for my trouble of giving you something to read when I really _didn't have to_! :)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hehe, so, There's a very good reason why this update took a few, erm, months. It was because I was under this impression that I had a writer's block and so I didn't even _try _to write this chapter...but then, I tried to write it yesterday, and I got it done, also yesterday. Hm, so...it's a little bit shorter because this time I had no first draft chapter to work off of, so it's entirely new. Enjoy!

* * *

The corridors of Ryou's mind were relatively simple and orderly. The lengthy hallways only occasionally twisted in an unexpected or irregular direction. But although they were easy to maneuver, they were utterly vast. Every hall extended into eternity, it seemed. Dark mist flooded every surface, and Zorc could be anywhere.

Bakura cursed softly, taking a step into Zorc's "soul room". Red flames erupted from the ground all around him, licking at his skin with a scorching heat, and just as quickly they died—not entirely, but enough that they were only a small flickering glow in a pattern of trench-like crevices that formed hundreds of interconnected symbols across the floor. The dark red pattern tossed a crimson glow on Bakura, but did not light any other features that may have been in the room.

The black mists curled around him lovingly as he took a further step into the room. His eyes adjusted to the blackness quickly, but it seemed that even he could not see past the shadows of the god of darkness. It didn't matter though. There would be time later to investigate Zorc's self-claimed portion of Ryou's mind, but he was now wandering the boy's subconscious aimlessly, and Bakura wasn't eager to have Ryou's mind and soul desecrated by Zorc's destructive habits just yet. The boy would become useless before Bakura had even started the next phase of his plan.

Quickly, he turned and left the room as it was. The fires died entirely behind him as he left, but the door remained open, as though inviting him back, encouraging him to stay. He came back to the junction between Ryou's soul room and his own. He cursed again loudly, and could suddenly feel a stream of Ryou's surprise as the boy felt his poorly concealed annoyance and anger. He threw up the mental walls that would keep their minds almost entirely split, but then paused, an idea occurring to him.

What better way to find what was in his Hikari's mind than by searching it from his own point of view, at which point he would be able to feel where something was not right and seek it out. And the boy would never know the difference.

The mental walls shattered and Bakura relaxed, letting the link between Yami and Hikari fuse, and concentrating on feeling Ryou's mind as he himself felt it. He immediately felt as though he was drowning in Ryou's confusion, his ignorance, and all of his pathetically weak emotions. He gritted his teeth and concentrated harder, past the emotions, to the simple what felt right and what felt wrong.

But what felt wrong was everywhere. The boy's mind was filled with the presence of two demonic beings, both with incredible shadow powers, and it was already wreaking havoc on the boy's mental stability.

Finally he let go of his Hikari's mind and settled back into himself, putting up the mental walls again. The deepest concentrations of darkness were himself and Zorc. He stood beside his own soul door, and his Hikari's. But Bakura could not trace the other.

"I felt you searching for me, my silly little demon. I think I already know why." The voice, ice surrounded by black silk, was behind him. Bakura sighed in his resentment of the demon god, and turned slowly.

His eyes had changed. The flame had receded so that only his irises burned with the unnatural red fire. His pupils were large, black, and endless, revealing nothing of the demon's thoughts. The shadows were twisting around him, and the inky tattoos swirled on his skin. He no longer wore the skin-tight shirt he'd worn before, but left his chest bare. The tattoos curled his shoulders and onto the fine contours of his torso, tracing his collarbone, sliding over the olive skin like liquid, and thinning so as to appear like the scales of Zorc's demon form. He narrowed his eyes disdainfully at his counterpart.

"You have questions, no doubt. I first have a question of my own, though." Zorc continued without waiting for a response from Bakura. "Why have you not begun the next portion of you oh-so-well-thought-out plan? You seem to have all the pieces you need. Your little _Ryou_ is clay in your ever-incapable hands. The Millennium Ring is yours to do with what you will. And yet you squander your time as that pathetic mortal attempts to read out the scribbles of an ancient book. Shall I reiterate what happens should you fail?"

Bakura growled in irritation. "I know what I must do, Zorc. The time spent trying to decipher the book is not time wasted. You should know that as well as I. Without the spells written in that book, I cannot release you from this body."

"Then I shall take this body as my own." Zorc said carelessly.

Bakura clenched his fists tightly. "None of this would be a problem if you had not deceived me. You said weeks, _months_. You assured me that you would need time to strengthen, and time to charm the boy so that he could handle your presence, which you have been failing at. He feels the effects of you every moment. Every day that passes he becomes more unstable, and now you choose to wander the paths of his mind. I cannot accomplish my task if the boy becomes useless to me, Zorc."

Zorc shrugged, running a hand through his ebony hair. "My complete transfer into this body went much better then anticipated, obviously."

"You only stayed within your soul room a matter of days!" Bakura snarled.

Zorc eyed him skeptically, and explained caustically, "Our little host's ability to withstand the Shadows is incredible. It allowed me to regain my power quickly. I will admit that it was something I hadn't predicted so don't start pointing fingers, or I may choose to rid you of them. One for every plan that has failed so far, perhaps." He paused, reaching a hand out and running his fingers down the door to Ryou's soul room. The shadows seemed to float off his fingers and stain the door, but slowly the black mark faded and disappeared entirely. He grinned, bearing sharp white teeth. "The taint of dark magic seems to slide off of your pet… I'm sure that won't be the case for long though. All things succumb to darkness with enough persuasion. You must know that better than anyone, my little soul-partner."

Bakura frowned, his eyes flitting to Ryou's door. He'd never been inside, for he'd never had reason to enter, but he sensed fragility within, behind the strength Ryou put out now. Zorc's talk of tainting Ryou was bothersome. The boy would be useless if he couldn't help him find the key, and Bakura had his suspicions about just who would know the whereabouts of it. It would be impossible for Bakura to get close enough, but Ryou… How many times he'd proven that the boy was the perfect spy. It was time that his Hikari utilized the skill.

And none of it would work if he became a crushed, frightened, unstable, incomprehensive, and insane slave to the lord of shadows.

"You are concerned about my effect on your _aibou_," Zorc said mockingly, pulling the thoughts right out of Bakura's head. Bakuar's eyes flashed towards him. The demon looked contemplative, his unnaturally bright red eyes almost seeming to glow. His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Well, if that _is _the case, perhaps you should consider speeding the phases of your plan along. The sooner the better. Who knows what I may do to the poor child if I get too bored." He laughed.

Bakura bristled, his face twisting angrily. "For having the gift of immortality you seem to be incredibly impatient. I will go as quickly as possible, but it depends on the boy's ability to decipher the book, a book which Egyptian scholars and sorcerers, the best minds of the era, could not figure out for ages."

"Then perhaps you require my help." Zorc hissed, stepping close to Bakura, his breath hot on his skin. "I will decipher your spells…and then you will finish the phases of your plan. Teamwork, hm? We're _partners_ after all."

"The boy cannot know of your presence in his body." Bakura said coldly. "Showing yourself to him would be foolish at best. Learning of you will in all likelihood cause him to relinquish his help."

"And you're concerned that you couldn't 'convince' him to assist despite my presence?" He asked, one eyebrow arched in scornful surprise. His eyes swept over Bakura disconcertingly. "Hm, perhaps you're losing your edge, Bakura." He paused, catching a strand of Bakura's hair between his thumb and forefinger. He continued, "In any case the boy will not know the difference between us. I will decipher the book. And everything will continue _as planned._"

He dropped his hand back to his side, going and leaning on Ryou's door. "One last thing before I go do what that fool Ryou can't…" He paused, his face smug, arrogant. Finally he warned, "Ensure that your affection for this little pet of yours, your _aibou_, doesn't interfere with your role. In fact I'd advise you crush it now, before it becomes a weakness. You and I are bound, our souls merged, until this comes to its conclusion and the world crumbles at my feet. Your Hikari will shatter under the weight of all that he bears before the end; don't let this link with _him_ be the cause of _your_ downfall as well. Accomplish our goals and you will be rewarded for your sacrifice." He smiled, watching Bakura's face harden, seeing the loathing in his own red-tinted eyes.

He laughed, and his form dematerialized into the mist that billowed up around him eagerly.

Bakura looked past the mists to Ryou's door. He'd known the risks of bringing Zorc into the boy's mind. Ryou was mortal…and he harbored the most powerful demon god in existence.

He frowned, and thought in irritation, _This is his fate, his purpose. He will help me to bring the world into shadow, and that is all that matters. His life is nothing. _

* * *

Symbols, symbols, symbols. They were printed on Ryou's mind in black and red and blue. Pictures of ceremonies and rituals that bore no meaning to him were engrained behind his eyes. And though his head burned with a migraine that was nearly crippling, and though it was nearly eleven at night and he still hadn't finished his homework, and though he'd skipped dinner and could feel his stomach clawing at him, he kept working on the book.

Because he'd deciphered a word.

The word was part of a particularly lengthy spell. He'd found a series of symbols that matched to another very similar group in a different section of the book that was written in simple hieroglyphs. And this all meant that he was close to finding a key that would help him to unlock the coded spells that filled the rest of the book. It was like finding one piece of a puzzle that hinted at a whole new group to experiment with.

But the word itself chilled and shocked him. What need would Ancient Egyptians have had for spells that required _Sacrifice_, when everyone knew that Ancient Egyptians did not _practice_ ritualistic sacrifices?

"Ah, working so late, my little Ryou?" Said a cold voice, causing Ryou to jump in surprise. He scrambled to catch the reading lamp that he'd hit with his elbow, meanwhile trying to not knock the book off of the desk.

"K-koe, please don't do that!" Ryou said, his voice harsher than intended with surprise. "Besides, I thought that you wanted me to decipher the book?" He asked, spinning around in his chair to look at the spirit.

Bakura stood beside the window where the moon was just barely coming into the sky from behind the vast skyscrapers of Domino. He was cast in shadow—the lamp's light didn't carry that far—but his eyes seemed to glow. Ryou paused, unable to tear his own mocha brown eyes from the spirit's fiery red gaze.

"I'll save you the trouble, shall I?" He asked, stepping away from the window and towards Ryou. His hair shone like silver in the bright moonlight.

"I don't understand. I thought you said that you couldn't read the hieroglyphs…" Ryou said, trailing off as he turned back to his book.

"Don't try to comprehend, just accept that I have found the cipher that will allow us to know what is written on these pages. Then we'll have some fun with these spells, shall we?" Bakura said with a soft laugh.

"No, I don't want to do spells or anything like it. I'm only curious to know what it says. If you know then you can just tell me, right?" He asked, avoiding the spirit's gaze, uncomfortable under the glaring flames that were resting on him.

"I don't think so." Said Bakura with a strange smile. "You're…soft, little Ryou. It's about time you step up to the plate. There is much to do, after all. One pair of hands will not be enough, and I need you to know these spells."

Ryou turned his head in confusion, looking at the book before him as he rest his hands on it. Why did _he_ have to know these spells? More importantly…why was the spirit acting so…different? His eyes burned brighter than they ever had before. But something else was wrong. Ryou turned completely around in his chair to ask him and bit his tongue as he came face to face with Bakura.

The spirit was a mere six inches away, leaning down. His hands were leaning on the desk on either side of him so that his arms caged Ryou on the chair. His breath was hot on his face, and his eyes gleamed even brighter.

"Yes…" Bakura murmured, as though answering an unheard question. "It's time you had a bigger part to play."

Ryou leaned back as far as he could. "What are you doing?" He asked, unable to stop the fear from leaking into his voice.

'_Remember. Trust…me'_ Bakura's voice, sounding resigned, indifferent, said in his mind.

Out loud he hissed with an unfamiliar sadist's smile fixed on his face, "This is going to hurt." He lifted one hand from the desk and ran it over the surface of the spell book. Gradually his skin began to grow mottled with black that seemed to crawl onto him. _Hieroglyphs_ Ryou realized. They covered his hand, filling the pale white skin until his hand was entirely black with them.

His hand paused in front of Ryou's face, and a shiver shuddered down his spine. He looked at the hand curiously, as though it weren't his own, and his face became serious. Then the smile lit his face again, serene, almost genuine. His teeth were slightly sharp. "Relax…" He said calmly, "It's better for everyone this way."

"You mean better for you." Ryou corrected, eyeing the black hand fearfully and wondering if he could push past Bakura and escape.

"Hm, perhaps you're not a complete fool after all." Bakura returned, and then, before Ryou could do anything, pressed his hand to the side of his head.

Pain, excruciating pain like fire and ice and cold steel, consumed his mind. It exploded like gunfire, and his ears were ringing. White light exploded in front of his eyes, and his muscles froze in shock. The migraines were a walk through the park in comparison. Ryou screamed, his hands flying to the sides of his head reactively. It went on and on and on until he gratefully grew numb and slipped into unconsciousness.

………

"…ow…" Ryou mumbled, cracking his eyes open. Slowly he sat up, putting a hand to his head and scrunching his eyes closed. His head was clear, and thankfully pain-free. He looked around. Lying on the floor, he'd apparently fallen off the chair and writhed over to the base of his bed. Sunlight had replaced the moon streaming in through the window.

"You feel better, I assume." Bakura's voice said from behind him. Ryou spun around and backed away quickly. The spirit was sitting on the bed. His eyes were dark, the color of stained mahogany. There was no trace of the red fire that had filled them the night before.

"What…what did you do?" Ryou asked warily, gripping the wall and pulling himself to his feet.

"I…" He paused, looking out the window, and then he turned his cold gaze on Ryou and continued. "I transferred the knowledge of the book to you. You will be able to read every spell, but it wouldn't surprise me if you know them without the book at this point."

"It _hurt_." Ryou accused. "If you knew the cipher why couldn't you just tell me and have me read it!"

"Silence, Hikari." Bakura snapped impatiently. "Stop acting like a fool. It was far simpler to just give you the knowledge. Unfortunately a transfer of that magnitude and of such powerful information is a very painful process."

"Yes, I think I got that part." Ryou said softly.

"Listen, you have the knowledge, now it's time to use it." Bakura said harshly, he stepped over to the book. "Come here." He ordered, and began flipping through pages. Ryou cautiously stepped over. Bakura's serious change of personality confused him. Last night he'd seemed colder, less human—_Ironic_, Ryou thought, _seeing as how he's as far from human as possible regardless._

"What is this spell?" Bakura suddenly asked, pointing at a spell near the front of the book. There was a picture depicting two identical Egyptians. The only difference was one had bloodied mark on his chest over his heart.

"Can't you read it?" Ryou asked. The night before Bakura had seemed like he was capable of reading the book, and knew everything in it.

"Blast it, Hikari, no I can't. I already told you this…I transferred the knowledge to _you_ so that _you_ could read it, not me. Not tell me what this spell is." He said, his voice on edge.

Ryou bit his lip, but leaned over the book and looked down at the page. Though Bakura had said as much, it still shocked Ryou when the symbols and glyphs, gibberish before, suddenly made complete sense.

He immediately wished that they didn't.

The spell was meant for the specific purpose of transferring the ka, or soul, of a being into another being. It gave instructions based on whether you wanted an empty "vessel" or wished to transfer into a shared body. The intent was that one who was dying could be saved by being transferred into a healthy body…but unless the soul was going to share the body, the body's first user had to be killed on the spot so that the body didn't die from lack of oxygen. The key to the spell was to use an item born of shadow magic.

"It's a soul transfer spell… Why would you need this?" Ryou asked, disgusted by the description by which the body's owner had to be killed in order to preserve the spark of life.

Bakura smiled a smug smile and touched the page. "Do you think I want to share_ your _body forever?" He asked.

Ryou stared at him in shock. "No…no, I won't do this. It's black magic, Bakura. I mean, it probably doesn't even work, but if it does this is really dark. I can't."

"You're forgetting, the Millennium Items were created with a spell from this very book. And you're also forgetting that we're in this together. You agreed to help me, _Aibou_." Bakura reminded him.

"This is murder!" Ryou hissed, fear causing his eyes to go wide as he pointed at the picture.

"You will do this, or your mind will snap like a dry bone." Bakura growled. "You do not know the forces that are at work around you. You _must_ trust me, or you will break. We will deal with this later, though. Memorize the spell, and continue to study the book. Things are moving quickly, and you must be ready."

Ryou paced back and forth. "It would be easier to be ready if you would tell me what I must be ready for! Please, Koe, I don't understand. I can't help you if I don't know what I'm helping you with."

Bakura smiled. "All in good time." He said, fading in the rays of sun and disappearing, leaving Ryou in confusion.

* * *

"Ra beloved…" Sighed Atem.

"My Pharaoh, please tell me what is troubling you." Atem's dearest friend, and former most powerful magician, said softly.

"I'm not Pharaoh anymore, Mahad. You may call me by name." Atem said with a strained laugh.

"Yes, but…it's strange. Even here where we are all equal…I cannot view you as less than my king." He said, sitting down beside him at the wooden table in the center of a casual dining hall. Food covered the table, but neither of them touched it. "Your dreams have been causing you stress." He said, as though confirming after a few moments of silence.

Atem looked up in surprise then smiled. "Mana?" He asked. Mahad nodded in agreement. "She loves the sound of her own voice." Atem said well humouredly. "But yes, it is my dreams that have been causing me to lose sleep and look over my shoulder at ever corner."

"May I know what your dreams are of? Perhaps I could…enlighten you?" Mahad asked, sitting up a little straighter.

Atem looked up, and then sighed again. "They are reoccurring nightmares of my mortality, of Bakura."

"Are they memories, perhaps?" Mahad asked, pressing his fingertips together.

"No…no, he stands in Domino, the city my host, Yugi, lived in while he owned the Millennium Puzzle. He shadows one of Yugi's friends, a boy by the name of Ryou Bakura. _Ryou_ has the Millennium Ring, and he interacts with Yugi and other people, all of them unaware of the demon that the boy harbors."

He paused as though trying to remember the details of the dream. "I try to warn Yugi, to tell him not to trust Ryou, but he can't hear me, and slowly Bakura's shadows begin consuming him. I try to stop him, try to do anything, but it's like I'm watching, paralyzed, and Bakura speaks to me, telling me that I've abandoned them. The buildings begin to crumble. A voice begins chanting some sort of spell, and Zorc appears in the sky. Flames erupt out of the ground, and the sky turns black. Everyone dies. Everyone except for Bakura and his host, Ryou who watch it all happen." He finished, tapping his fingers on the table.

Mahad thought for a moment. "Perhaps it is merely fear, subconscious, appearing in the form of dreams." He suggested.

Atem shook his head. "No, it seemed too real to be subconscious fear."

Mahad frowned. "If it is any comfort, it can't be a premonition. Bakura and Zorc were destroyed together in our past. Their souls were devoured by Ammit." He said, placing a comforting hand on Atem's arm.

"A premonition!" Atem shot up, pacing quickly. "Perhaps Bakura was not destroyed…perhaps his connection with Ryou in the present spared him as Yugi's very presence spared me when Bakura robbed me of strength in the past!"

"Atem, there is no possible way for Bakura to have survived. He fused with Zorc, and Zorc was eradicated by the Light Bringer. Even if he _had_ survived, the chance of him managing to escape the Shadow Realm and return to Earth is unlikely at best!" Mahad assured him, rushing to his side.

Atem looked up at him, his wine-colored eyes flaring. "Either way, I must at least warn Yugi. Even if only to warn him on a false alarm. Mahad, there must be a way to connect with the living even after death."

Looking uncomfortable, Mahad nodded hesitantly. "Well, yes, there is…but it is probably not wise to show yourself to your former host. It's dangerous. You risk being trapped, a wandering soul, on Earth. Or you risk…wanting to stay. If you go back and find that you miss that life, then the afterlife will become tasteless; Hell rather than Heaven."

He thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I have to warn Yugi, and if there is a risk I will take it."

"Please, I am not asking as your advisor, Atem, I am asking as your friend. I don't want you to ruin whatever happiness you have here." Mahad pleaded.

"Whatever happiness I have here will be ruined anyways if these dreams are premonitions and I fail to warn him." He closed his eyes. "He never would've abandoned me… And I can't abandon him."

"But, my king—" He protested, but Atem stopped him.

"What if it were Mana? Wouldn't you warn her?" Atem asked seriously.

Mahad closed his eyes. Mana was his most treasured student, even if she was his student no longer. She was like a little sister. "Alright." He finally agreed, opening his eyes. He gestured to Atem and returned to the table. Atem sat down, and Mahad looked at him seriously. "I'll tell you how…"

* * *

A/N: As always reviews are welcomed and highly appreciated! I apologize again for my lack of updates, I'll try to get another one out soon! Please tell me what you thought and what you think of where the story seems to be going because that will be a great help in writing future chapters!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Updates! What is this, two in less than a month? Anyways, please enjoy...

* * *

A sigh, long and drawn out filled with all the confusion and worry and abnormality of the last week, escaped Ryou's lips. Sitting on his bed with the Millennium Spell Book laying open on his lap, he leaned back and relaxed against the wall. His mind was buzzing with a million questions, and a million more possible answers…and a million doubts.

Everything was wrong.

He knew this; of course he knew that something was terribly wrong. The world was in danger, and he could attribute it to a spirit thriving inside of him. It was too close to being able to attribute it to himself for comfort.

And it was only getting worse. He was drowning in fear, trying to be strong, but he felt as though he was slipping. He'd been so sure of himself before, felt as though he could get the information he needed and stop Bakura before it was too late. But now…

Bakura was getting stronger. Much stronger than he had ever been before, because never had Ryou felt so consumed by the demon's presence. He could feel it inside him, feel it tingling under his skin, feel it constricting his insides with a cold hand that forced shivers scurrying over his body, made him feel short of breath. He could feel it in the cold sting of energy that the Millennium Ring gave off, and in the mind blowing headaches that, contrary to Bakura's promise, were only getting worse.

Then there was last night. Ryou couldn't shake the terror that had filled him as Bakura's voice, almost manic, informed him that he had found the way to decipher to book. And true, now Ryou could read every spell in the book as though it were written in Japanese, but everything about the situation seemed off to Ryou. Bakura's burning flame-bright eyes flashed through his mind again, and Ryou shook his head to clear it. But he couldn't escape the memory, the voice, and the insane laughter.

Nothing had been right about him, but it _had_ been him. And that concerned Ryou, because fighting a demon was one thing, but fighting an insane demon would be another thing entirely. He'd never truly thought of Bakura as _insane_ before. Cruel, sadistic, unstable perhaps, and evil, but never unhinged.

_Maybe I'm going insane_ Ryou wondered, and heard a dark laughter echo in his mind vaguely. Something was wrong about it, but he disregarded it. Bakura was constantly laughing…_So maybe he _is_ insane_, Ryou thought.

He leaned forward, blinking to clear his eyes, and then refocused on the book. He'd read through about half of it. He'd even found the spell for the Millennium Items…and it had appalled him.

He'd read, feeling slightly ill, that the Millennium Items had to be made out of the souls of human beings, of their inner darkness. Hundreds of people had to have been sacrificed, a massacre. He wondered if Yugi had ever known when he had the Puzzle. He hoped not, because he could hardly stand wearing the Ring. He wanted to get it off of him, but he knew that it was impossible. And he couldn't understand why in the world Bakura had been so bent on retrieving every single one.

Another mystery, one that Ryou would probably never find out because obviously Bakura's motives, and his plan, had changed. He was no longer after Items made of human souls. _What _is_ he after, is the question_. Ryou thought, pursing his lips.

As Ryou had continued to read the book, he'd discovered that many of the following spells had to do with the Items. Some of the spells were almost useless without the aid of them. But the most prominent Item, the one that showed up in spell after spell, was, surprisingly, the Millennium Ring. Ryou had thought that the Puzzle had been the centerpiece, the Item which all the others revolved around. _But perhaps that was only because the Pharaoh resided within it. Perhaps without him the Puzzle had no great power. _

But why the Millennium Ring then? What made it—

The phone was ringing, interrupting his thoughts. He sighed, sliding the book off his legs, and stood up. When he got to the phone he paused, hand poised over the receiver. His eyes fell to the caller ID.

_Kame Game Shop_

_345-443-9838_

It was Yugi's number. He glanced at the clock…almost eleven. Yugi should've been at the college already. _Technically so should I_, Ryou thought, but turned it aside. He just couldn't concentrate on school right now. The phone rang again, but Ryou's hand dropped to his side, letting it ring. Finally the answering machine picked it up.

"_You've reached Ryou Bakura, please leave your name and number and I'll return your call as soon as possible." Beeeep._

"Hey, Ryou-kun." Yugi's voice sprang from the machine. Ryou bit his lip, his eyebrows drawing together in a confused crease. Yugi sounded nervous, his voice rushed. "I just, I just was wondering if you were okay. I haven't seen you around a lot recently, and you haven't been at school. I, um, I just wanted to talk to you, so if you get this message maybe we could hang out sometime today. It's sort of important. Anyways, bye." _Click_.

Ryou stood there for a moment after it was silent again. Yugi had not sounded like he wanted to hang out at all. He'd sounded… Ryou paled, because to him Yugi had sounded anxious, unsure, and tense, his voice wavering with uneasy apprehension, and the only reason Ryou could think of as to why he would sound that way would be if he somehow had guessed what was going on. If somehow he knew that Ryou was harboring the demon that had caused so much pain and strife for them all in the past.

" I'm just paranoid." Ryou assured himself shakily. "There's no way he could know…There's no way he could've figured it out. Please," His voice fell into a whisper and he collapsed into a chair by the kitchen table as he begged, not sure as to who he was asking, "don't let him find out."

"Talking to yourself? My, you really are a lonely little mortal aren't you…" Ryou looked up in shock, his eyes landing on Bakura who sat casually across the kitchen table. Ryou's heart clenched up; Bakura's eyes were on fire again, burning bright with arrogant mockery.

Ryou didn't answer, just looked down, trying to escape that vivid ruby gaze that seemed to pierce right through him. His skin was crawling, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. It was so much worse than normal.

"You've been able to read the book with ease, now, have you not?" Bakura asked.

"Yes." Ryou answered, turning away.

"Ah, but you're still remembering how it is that you came to be able to read the book. My methods may seem dark to you, I would imagine. You don't understand the wealth you've been granted because you cannot put meaningless pain, so temporary and fleeting, behind it. Mortals are all the same in that regard."

Ryou looked up at him for a moment, locked eyes with the demon. He just couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that something was wrong about him again. Finally he said, "Nothing is temporary and fleeting about you. That includes that 'meaningless pain' that you cause. I don't know why…but ever since you came it's getting worse."

He grinned, pointed teeth glinting—were his teeth always so sharp? "I'm afraid it's a…side-effect of sorts. Shadow Magic contamination, if you will; it's hard on the mortal mind and soul. Don't worry, it won't damage you permanently. If fact that spell, you know the one, the transfer spell…well, that would relieve the pressure on your mind immediately. All it takes is a little _sacrifice_." He drew out the word, emphasizing every syllable.

There was a long pause, and finally Ryou said softly, "…I need to go talk to Yugi." He stood up and gathered his light jacket, and not turning to look at the demon again explained, "He said he had something important to tell me."

The demon laughed—was it darker, more grating?—and stood up. "I'm hurt that my company isn't good enough for you. No matter, it's best that you speak to this mortal…after all, he has a part to play as well, doesn't he? Hm, curious, how it all ties together, isn't it..."

Ryou glared slightly, and snapped, "Yugi has nothing to do with this whole 'end of the world' thing you're trying to pull off. Leave him out of it."

Bakura seemed to almost glide over to Ryou (and Ryou noticed how solid he looked…Like he was corporeal, not a mere image, a mental manifestation. And somehow Ryou knew that time was running out) His voice was silk as he said, "You're stronger than I would've imagined, my little pet." He laughed softly, "Of course you don't know it yet…but he has a very large part to play in our plan, _aibou_, one that even I have yet to fully comprehend." He laughed as though at a joke only he understood.

Ryou shivered, goose bumps rising all over him. There was a tingling itch under his skin, and he suddenly felt a panicked need to get away from the spirit he stood beside. He looked away from Bakura, and rushed out the door.

Bakura's grin widened as he watched him go. Shadows began swirling on his arms, constricting around him like a snake. His skin darkened until it was an even olive tone, and his white hair blackened, receding significantly until it was just barely to his shoulders. His face narrowed, and his flame-red irises expanded until his eyes were pools of crimson fire.

"Mortal vermin." He spat, grinding sharpened teeth, smiling sadistically. "Our little pet is falling farther and farther into this web you've spun, and in his attempts to escape he's only winding himself tighter into his bonds. I believe he'll join you willingly soon enough...the stress isn't worth it for him."

Bakura appeared slowly beside Zorc, his white hair and pale skin, the same that the demon had just worn, contrasting sharply with the black hair and dark olive skin that the demon-god currently had. Bakura's voice was cold and direct as he said, "He suspects you. Our plan will fall to pieces if you are not more careful, Zorc. Stop toying with him."

"Ah, but that is the beauty of mortals, Bakura, because they cannot see answers, cannot come to correct conclusions, even if those answers are staring them in the face. Not like you and I. _They _are fools, unable to comprehend the power with which they play, unable to understand that the darkness they create will turn on them and bring about their own destruction…all in good time."

Zorc sat in the chair Ryou had been sitting in, propping his legs up on the table. His laughter echoed around the house. He paused, looking up at Bakura who was glaring darkly at the door through which their host had left. "That mortal brat your Ryou has gone to see, he is the one who harbored Atem?" He asked.

"Yes, and he is perhaps the only one besides the deceased pharaoh himself who knows the location of the key." Bakura snarled. "My Hikari must convince him to reveal it's location, although he doesn't know it. And when he does we shall destroy it, and the Shadows will be free to roam, yours to command as soon as you are released from the mortal shell you've trapped yourself within."

"A key, like the Pharaoh's name?" Zorc questioned skeptically.

Bakura nodded, "It's an insubstantial power, a universal strength that must be harbored within an object. It is the only wall between this realm and the realm of darkness."

Zorc's eyes burned, and he asked. "And how do you know this?"

"It isn't exactly a riddle." Bakura said, grinning at the demon's ignorance. "The name, Atem, was the key that had the power to lock you away, to hold back the shadows. It was hidden within the lost memories of the Pharaoh, making the Pharaoh, and that brat Yugi, the vessel in which the key was kept secret and hidden. Obviously the shadows have not been released, so the power that was in the Pharaoh's name, concealed in the mind of himself and his host, must still exist. He hid it before he moved on, to a place where only he knows, but if I'm correct then I believe he may possibly have enlightened his former host with the secret to its whereabouts."

"And what better place to hide the secret to its location then within the cavernous depths of a mortal mind…" Zorc said with an inquisitive smile on his lips. "You said before the power was held within the mind of Atem…and within his host, Yugi?" He confirmed, his voice suggestive.

Bakura's eyes narrowed and Zorc could almost see the gears turning, the lightning quick mind connecting the pieces. His voice was thoughtful as he speculated out loud, "What better place to hide the key to the shadows, the power to hold darkness at bay, then within the innocent mind of your host, your closest friend and soul-partner…what better place to keep the key than the place where it was so cleverly hidden the first time? A place where no one could reach, where no one can find it, where no one would even think to look…or so he thought." Bakura grinned wildly, his eyes flashing. "That brat need not know where the key is, he need not possess that knowledge, he need only provide a safe harbor, a vessel, containment for the key to the most destructive power in the universe."

"What better place when there are no tools to reach that power, to destroy that key…ah, but wait, _our_ host has something…an Item with the capability to transfer power from one thing to another, to manipulate minds and draw out hidden secrets of the soul." Zorc hissed, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hand. "I do believe that we have a plan."

Bakura laughed wickedly, Zorc temporarily forgotten, with the sweet lingering essence of revenge on his tongue. The thrill of one more obstacle removed was like an allusion of the success awaiting him after so many millennia, and he exulted, "It's within our reach… That fool, that ignorant bastard, hid the key to unlock the powers of eternal darkness in the most fragile, most feasibly _reachable_ place possible; the mind of a weak and powerless mortal brat."

* * *

It was almost noon when Ryou pulled up in front of the Game Shop. He could still hear his friend's voice echoing in his head, _I just wanted to talk to you…its sort of important_. What could be important that they'd need to talk about?

_I'm probably just overreacting, _Ryou thought_, it's nothing, probably just Yugi worrying that I haven't been at school. That's it._ Nevertheless he had a hard time getting out of his car, and walked slowly to the front door, paused before he went in. His gut instinct was telling him that this would probably not be a happy visit.

So, naturally, he walked inside.

Suguroku was sitting behind the desk fiddling with two pieces of twisted metal that were seemingly impossible to separate, and that was the fun of it because everyone knew there was a way, but no one knew just how.

"Good afternoon, Muto-san." Ryou said, looking around. "Yuugi called a while ago and said that he wanted to talk to me about something. I just wondered…is he okay? I mean, shouldn't he be at school?"

Suguroku scratched his head, his eyebrows pulling together. "I don't know, actually. He said he wasn't feeling up to school this morning. He was very pale… I believe he's upstairs in his room if you'd like to head up there." He nodded his head at the door, and then returned to the metal puzzle he was trying to solve.

Ryou went upstairs, taking his time as the guilty gut-wrenching pit in his stomach (the one that couldn't stand how much betrayal Ryou was allowing himself to cause) twisted again. When he got to Yugi's room, he again paused. The door was closed, he stood close listening, but he couldn't hear any movement from within the room. He knocked gently, and after a moment heard a voice—strained to sound carefree—say, "Come in."

Ryou entered. Yugi was sitting on the floor, leaning his back against his desk. His hair was messy as though he hadn't taken time to do it that morning and, as Suguroku had said, he was pale. His eyes were heavy and he looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. He held something small and silver in his hands and Ryou recognized it as the cartouche with Atem's name on it.

"Hey Yugi, you said you wanted to talk to me. Are you okay…?" Ryou asked, sitting himself down on the floor a few feet away.

Yugi smiled slightly and asked, "Are you?" at Ryou's look of confusion he continued, almost as though to himself, "You haven't been at school in days, and you've seemed really stressed, like you can't concentrate. And your headaches, they haven't gone away yet, right?"

Ryou looked at his hands, clasping them together. The weight of the Millennium Ring was heavy on his chest. Finally he answered, "I've just had a lot on my mind. That gift my father sent me, it's been keeping me up and distracting me from school… But it's nothing too bad. But you have to have been wondering more than that, I mean, you seem really worried about something."

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Yugi looked at him as though examining him, trying to get behind his face to the carefully guarded thoughts behind.

"I had a dream last night, Ryou…or, well it didn't seem like a dream, but I was asleep when it happened." He paused with a sigh. "Atem came and spoke with me, Ryou, and he told me to keep an eye on you."

Ryou froze and then asked, keeping his voice steady, "What do you mean, Yugi?"

Yugi frowned, "I don't know. Listen, I trust you, and you're one of my closest friends. I told Atem that it was silly… But he was so sure, and he was so worried for me and for the world as it is. I've never seen him so concerned."

"So sure of what? What is he worried about?" Ryou pressed, the panic of being caught doing something wrong suffocating him.

"He seemed so sure that…that _Bakura_ was not destroyed, and that something terrible was going to happen. And he said that I needed to watch you because he felt that you would be the vessel Bakura used again." Yugi looked guilty for even suggesting it.

But he'd hit the nail on the head.

So Ryou laughed. "But it was only a dream, right? I mean, that's ridiculous. Bakura was destroyed, Yugi."

"I know, but you've been acting so differently, and he said—"Yugi started, but Ryou grabbed his arm.

"Yugi, if Bakura had come back I would know." Ryou assured him. The deceitful lies were bitter in his mouth.

"But would you tell?" Yugi asked doubtfully, his eyes wide with concern.

"…I…I don't know." Ryou said hesitantly, leaning back slowly "_If_ he came back…he probably wouldn't let me."

_Why don't I just tell him_, Ryou wondered._ He knows, he already knows…I'm lying through my teeth. If he knew what I was hiding then he would understand, and he would forgive me for keeping it secret. So why can't I just tell him?_ He closed his eyes for a minute, _Because I'm afraid, _he finally answered himself,_ Afraid of Bakura, yes, but more afraid that Yugi will be angry, that he'll be afraid of me…That he _won't_ forgive me. _

"Ryou, Atem told me he wanted let me know because he was worried… He said that it might just be an overreaction. And, I don't' know, maybe it _was_ just a dream." His face fell as this occurred to him, and Ryou knew that seeing Atem must have been incredibly blissful, especially where Yugi regretted sending him away to the afterlife. And yet that meeting, whether a dream or not, had been tainted by the warning of a hidden danger within someone he thought he could trust. Yugi continued, "But you have been acting differently and I'm just worried I guess."

"You have every right to be worried. I have been acting strange, but I'm fine. You're just going to have to trust me." He struggled not to wince even as he said it. Bakura's voice echoed in his memory, _Trust me. _

Yugi shrugged, looking no less uneasy than before. "Alright, if you say you're okay."

"Listen, tomorrow's Saturday. Why don't we go to the arcade?" Ryou suggested, standing up to indicate that he was leaving.

"Yeah…" Yugi nodded, a hint of enthusiasm returning to his anxious expression. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll invite Joey!"

Ryou nodded in agreement, and waved. "I'll see you later, Yugi. And, um, thanks for worrying about me…" He finished awkwardly, and then quickly left the room before Yugi could answer.

"Leaving so soon, Bakura?" Suguroku asked as Ryou walked briskly past the front desk.

"Oh, yes, Yugi just wanted to ask me about school because I haven't been attending the past few days. The book my father sent me, you know?" He explained.

"Ah, I know how distracting puzzles like that can be. It's impossible to leave them alone once you get started on them!" He said with a laugh. "Like this one, for instance." He held up the intertwined metal pieces.

Ryou smiled and agreed, "Exactly." Then he walked out the door. He paused outside. His visit had only lasted about fifteen minutes, and the sun was still high. He wasn't eager to return to his apartment where Bakura would be able to make another appearance. He was just considering going to the store to pick up some groceries and other various household items that he'd been meaning to buy when the familiar voice of the spirit slid through his mind, sounding all too pleased with himself.

'_Come home, aibou…we have much to discuss. My plans have taken a leap forward, and you have a part to play that you must be prepared for.' _He told him, his voice smooth and devoid of the irritation that it had held the past few days. Now he sounded calm, as though everything was going exactly as it should, according to plan. It was yet another reminder that Ryou was running out of time and freedom to bring the spirit's plans to and end.

Ryou bit his lip in frustration, climbing into his car. He didn't dare reply mentally to the probing darkness in his mind, and so he remained silent. And though he dreaded what the spirit might want to discuss with him, he pushed the speed limit as far as he dared, a simple fear of the unknown pressing him onward.

When he stepped inside the house the first thing that occurred to him was that his apartment seemed darker. Shadows appeared to hug the corners, pool under tables and chairs, and the bright electric lights did little to push back the gloominess of the living area.

He dropped his keys on the table and said to the emptiness of his home, "I'm here…what did we have to 'discuss'?"

"Ah, I'm glad to see that you're eager to learn." Murmured a laughing voice in his ear. Ryou cringed but held his ground, looking at the spirit who stood beside him, looking down on him, cautiously.

"I just want to know what you are talking about. What do you mean your plans have 'taken a leap forward'?" Ryou asked, holding the demon's gaze steadily.

Bakura grinned, red-brown eyes (normal again) flashing brightly. He reached out with one hand and drew a line down Ryou's chest to where the Millennium Ring lay, concealed beneath his shirt. He paused, pressing the cold metal to his skin, and then lifted his hand and drew the Item out by the rope chord attached to it. His slender fingers were cold against Ryou's skin. The Ring, drawn into the open, caught the light and glinted; its golden sheen was almost beautiful beneath the dim apartment lights.

"Let's just say I've come to a sudden realization, one that has efficiently ensured my victory. I have all the pieces to the puzzle, and victory is nearly in my grasp." He said confidently.

Ryou drew in a deep breath, struggling to take in this new revelation. Finally he whispered, "What if Atem knows about your plan?"

Bakura paused at the seemingly random question, releasing the Millennium Ring and letting it drop heavily. After a moment he shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly. "It would mean nothing to me." He said nonchalantly, but Ryou could detect an edge of hostility. Bakura hated the former Pharaoh as much now as he ever had. "Even if he knew my plan inside and out there is no way he could stop it, not when it is so far in its progression."

"You haven't done anything yet!" Ryou reminded him.

"On the contrary," Bakura said, a smirk twisting his face. "My plan has come much farther than I think you realize. After all, you know all the spells, and I now have the information that I need. The only two obstacles blocking my path have been removed."

Ryou held his breath, taking a step back and leaning against the wall. "What information?" He finally asked.

"The safeguarded location to the _key_," He laughed wickedly, "The key that will release the shadows from the realm of darkness and throw this world into anarchic chaos. The end to which you and I have been working towards, Hikari."

"A key…" Ryou breathed, "What is—"

"Ah, but I won't tell you just yet. You see, you've proven that you're opposed to me and I'm afraid I cannot trust you with information you could use to your own ends." Bakura snapped, glaring at him. "But soon, aibou, you will know very soon. And believe me; the time will pass quicker than you thought for we have business to attend to right now." His voice dropped into a whisper, a promise, "And tomorrow, little one, you shall know everything."

"He knows though, Bakura, Yugi knows. That's what he wanted to tell me. He said that Atem told him about you, and about me." Ryou told him. Softly he said, "Maybe they _can _stop you… Koe, I've told you this over and over. I don't want anything to do with it if it's going to hurt someone."

Bakura smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter this time, Ryou. You're helping me whether you want to or not. Besides, don't you think that it's about time you put those spells you've learned to the test? There's nothing worse than wasted knowledge."

Ryou turned away, his head bowed. _Whether you want to or not_ the phrase repeated in his head over and over again. _I am a slave in my own body, _Ryou thought hopelessly, the feeling of fear clawing to get free. His hands shook slightly. Forcing himself to be strong he thought, _I am helpless and alone…so there's only one thing I can feasibly do. If I don't then this darkness will swallow me. _

Finally Ryou turned around and looked up at Bakura, clenching his fists, and conceded softly, "Fine, you win, what do you want me to do?"

* * *

A/N: At this point you may be wondering, "What???" I guess you'll have to just hope that I get another update out soon. And a review will seriously help me on my way.

_**REVIEW**_ PLEASE!!!!


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